The APT participated in a public hearing before Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) to address the constitutionality of recent changes to the country’s custody hearing framework. The changes, introduced by the recently enacted Anti-Organised Crime Law, make videoconferencing the default format for custody hearings, reversing the previous rule that prioritised the physical presence of the detained person before a judge.
In its intervention, APT stressed that in-person custody hearings are not simply a matter of procedural design. Bringing a person promptly and physically before a judicial authority in the first hours following arrest is an essential safeguard against torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary detention. This principle is recognised by both the UN Human Rights Committee and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The UN Committee against Torture has also specifically recommended that Brazil conduct custody hearings with the physical presence of the detained person, before a magistrate and in a judicial setting.
APT also drew the Court’s attention to evidence from its own research demonstrating why physical presence matters in practice. Through the observation of more than 110 virtual custody hearings in the Brazilian States of Mato Grosso and Alagoas, APT documented significant limitations in the ability of judicial authorities to identify possible signs of violence. Cameras often showed only the face, shoulders or upper body of the detained person, while poor image quality sometimes made it impossible to properly assess reported injuries.
The research also identified serious concerns regarding privacy. In some cases, detained persons participated in virtual hearings from police stations, with police officers remaining nearby but outside the camera’s field of view. During one observed hearing, an officer even responded to a question addressed by the judge to the detained person. Such conditions can undermine the ability of individuals to speak freely about violence or ill-treatment they may have experienced while in police custody.
More recent data collected by APT reinforces these concerns. In 61% of the 96 courts that conduct virtual custody hearings mapped through the Observa Custodia platform, detained persons connect to the hearing from a prison or police station rather than from a judicial setting. The data, collected between December 2025 and August 2026, will soon be published at the Observa Custódia dashboard.
APT further argued that making virtual hearings the rule raises concerns about regression in human rights protection. Over the past decade, Brazil has developed and invested in custody hearings as a public policy and an important safeguard against torture. Weakening the conditions that allow this safeguard to function effectively risks reversing progress made in the prevention of torture and institutional violence.
APT will continue to engage with Brazilian institutions and civil society to advocate for custody hearings that ensure effective, independent and meaningful judicial oversight from the earliest hours of detention. Preserving in-person hearings as the general rule is essential to ensuring that custody hearings remain an effective safeguard against torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention.
