She is running for the “Muda OAB” ticket.

Leading an opposition movement to what is currently managed by the Brazilian Bar Association, Bahia section (OAB-BA), Ana Patrícia is a member of IBDFAM (Brazilian Institute of Family Law), as well as ABMCJ (Brazilian Association of Women Legal Career), having a master’s degree in “Family in Contemporary Society” from the Catholic University of Salvador (UCSAL), as well as being a partner in a firm that has become a reference in Family Law for the state of Bahia. “I would not escape the responsibility of putting the OAB back at the center of the public debate, mainly due to the fact that violence in Bahia is also a racial issue”, she declares, with regard to the role of the OAB in society.

The OAB is an institution that represents lawyers as a professional class, supervises and guides the practice of law and prevents practices that violate the Code of Ethics. It was created on November 18, 1930, through Decree No. 19,408, signed by Getúlio Vargas. On April 11, 1932, the first provisional board of the Bahian section was elected, with João Marques dos Reis as president.

Now, 92 years later, the more than 61 thousand members will choose, on November 19th, the new sectional board, sectional and federal counselors for Bahia, the board of the Lawyers’ Assistance Fund and boards of all subsections in the state. In command of the “Muda OAB” ticket, with 52 members, Ana Patrícia is running for the presidency of the body for the second time – she ran in 2021. The lawyer spoke to CORREIO and spoke about her priorities, if elected for the next three years, such as salary floor, fight for tenure and obligation of judges in the districts, in addition to transparency of resources: “Reverse the sad position that the Bahian legal profession occupies in the national ranking of being the poorest in Brazil”. Check out the full interview with Ana Patrícia.

1 – If elected, what will be the role of the OAB in matters linked to social issues, such as, for example, the rise in violence in Bahia?

The order, the OAB, is the guardian of citizenship. When elected, we believe in the result of this process that we are carrying out, we would not escape the responsibility of placing the OAB at the center of the public debate, mainly due to the fact that violence in Bahia is also a racial issue, which redoubles the responsibility of the our institution and mine, as president, to pay attention to social issues and bring the Order back together, as an observatory of citizenship and a protagonist in the defense of public order and the democratic rule of law. Which means to say that we will have the duty to act effectively to change the present scenario, unlike the current management, which is silent and occupies the spotlight in the Public Security Council of the State of Bahia, in a purely decorative way, I will have the purposeful action to the reversal of the situation.

2 – What will be the priorities in your management at the head of the OAB, if elected, including how you intend to manage the budget estimated at R$ 38 million? (The reference value is that approved for this year)

Our management will be with responsibility, total transparency and aiming, above all, to reverse the sad position that the Bahian legal profession occupies in the national ranking, of being the poorest in Brazil. Unlike the current one, we will not have absurd and million-dollar expenses on plane tickets and accommodations with very little or no information about the benefits that this brings to the life of the law. Likewise, the resources allocated to marketing will not exceed, under any circumstances, the amounts allocated to improving working conditions in the legal profession. The resources will be used to improve working conditions in the legal profession. And, I cite here as an example, the creation of an environment for young lawyers to prosper and progress, through online platforms, which reduces costs for beginners by creating a virtual environment and the effective prospecting of clients without violating ethical principles. This is something we will be careful about.

3 – How do you see the issue of the institution’s financial transparency and how do you intend to apply it?

For me, this is an institutional and non-negotiable duty. Since 2021, the accounts approved by OBA-BA have not been made available on the transparency portal, violating a campaign commitment publicly signed by the current president. The destination of the money collected from annual fees has become a great mystery in the Bahian OAB. There is not even a recording of expenses in official diaries and accounting books, which is not only illegal but also immoral. Our management will create an easily accessible transparency portal, allowing the legal profession to monitor money management on a daily basis, which is a commitment that I make publicly to the class.

4 – An issue highlighted by the category is the fact that the OAB does not have a health plan for its 61,262 members, while in Paraíba, where there are just over 21 thousand lawyers, the category has a dental plan funded by the Section, in addition to assistance doctor in the co-participation system. What do you propose in this regard?

For me, since the extinction of the health plan, called OAB Salus, which occurred in August 2010, Bahian lawyers have not had decent health care. Even dental units do not operate satisfactorily, with the difficulty of scheduling a simple appointment currently being public and notorious. CAAB (Bahia Lawyers’ Assistance Fund, social arm of OAB-BA) is committed to providing healthcare services to lawyers. But I cannot truly understand that an entity, with more than 61 thousand lawyers, not counting our dependents, cannot negotiate different conditions with health plan operators for medical and hospital care. With CAAB, we will also have specialized psychologists available, including through online consultations, to combat anxiety and bornaut crisis, with a quantity that ensures quality of care for those most in need of CAAB’s assistance support.

5 – One of the issues on the category’s agenda is the violation of prerogatives, which are rights that guarantee lawyers the possibility of defending their clients with autonomy and independence, without fear of embarrassment or diminishment of their role, provided for in Federal Law No. 8,906/ 94, the Law Firm Statute. Rape often happens in public bodies, such as police stations, forums, courts, prison units… How will you act to resolve this problem?

With institutional independence and the adoption of all effective measures provided for by law that inhibit the occurrence and recurrence of violations. Not limiting institutional action to the rejection note and sessions empty of complaints. We propose to present an amendment to the statute of the OAB so that public authorities who repeat violations of our functional prerogatives are considered unsuitable for practicing law. When these authorities retire, or are dismissed from public office for any reason. What I cite as an example are the measures we will adopt.

6 – Today, a lawyer receives payment for services provided based on an OAB fee table. However, some members report that, in some cases, the category receives below this table. How do you intend to resolve the minimum salary issue?

Bahian law, to our sadness, was recognized as the poorest in Brazil, being a structural problem that needs to be reversed, but nothing has been done in the last three years regarding this matter. In our management, there will be the creation of an ethical salary floor, as well as promoting the tireless fight for the restructuring of the 1st degree of the Judiciary, in order to obtain the due judicial provision in a reasonable time for the completion of the processes, which will also bring as result in obtaining fees. Still with this purpose, the Order will monitor the phenomenon of dismissals of cases without resolving the merits, which represents serious financial losses for the legal profession, in addition to the denial of judicial provision. And, finally, we must give due consideration to the need to pay the fees of native lawyers (those who perform the role of public defender when the Public Defender’s Office is structurally deficient).

7 – The category calls for a greater look from the OAB at the interior of the state. Some lawyers complain about the body’s lack of supervision regarding the progress of cases, as many judges are in districts, but do not appear and hearings take a long time to take place. How do you intend to resolve the situation?

The interior is sadly abandoned. It is necessary to resume the fight for the reactivation of the districts, this is very important. Fight for the tenure of judges, for the extinction of the various replacements that were created, fight for the mandatory presence of magistrates in the districts, for the creation and installation of courts, as well as providing due assistance to all subsections in Bahia. The interior wants full judges in each district and not a president who dedicates the strength of the institution to rise to the position of magistrate, as the current president has done three times.

8 – Another problem pointed out by members from the interior is the fact that the OAB has only 37 subsections for a state with 417 municipalities. What do you intend to do about this representation?

Create subsections in those locations where the legal profession feels distant and unassisted by the Order, which is a great demand, a great complaint from lawyers in the interior. Where, in the interior, what happens is the result of political abandonment, what will be done is to respect or listen, understand and allow solutions to be identified, by those suffering at the end, by colleagues who are in the interior. In these cases, I would listen attentively, the solutions are already with colleagues in each location, it will be up to me, as president, to be an instrument for realizing these needs. The interior needs respect.