Aprisionamento cautelar por crimes de drogas e direitos humanos: uma análise de decisões judiciais em Habeas Corpus na capital paraibana

Abstract

In 2025, the state of Paraíba recorded a rate of 31.81% of individuals deprived of liberty in pretrial detention, a percentage higher than the national average (BRASIL, 2025). These individuals await the progression of their criminal proceedings while incarcerated, despite being constitutionally presumed innocent. In this context, drug trafficking stands as the main criminal charge leading to the imposition of preventive custody (CNJ, 2017). Nevertheless, public data on pretrial incarceration remain scarce and often outdated. This informational gap reflects the limited willingness of the Judiciary to develop policies aimed at managing, identifying, and reducing the pretrial prison population. Such lack of initiative reveals an institutional perception that tends to treat these individuals as disposable, reducing their condition to mere figures within the penal system. Guided by critical criminology, this study analyzed 61 habeas corpus judgments selected from 373 decisions issued by the Court of Justice of Paraíba between 2021 and 2024, employing thematic categorization of qualitative

data as its analytical technique (Dias & Mishima, 2023). The results indicate a markedly denial- oriented trend, with more than 90% of requests rejected both in preliminary injunctions and on

the merits. The repeated use of public order as the primary justification was observed even in cases involving small quantities of drugs and first-time offenders. The decisions frequently relied on generic reasoning, lacked individualized analysis of conduct, and emphasized the abstract gravity of the offense. The findings also show that most arrests originated from police flagrante delicto conducted by the Military Police, with no reference to prior investigations, and that judgments by the Criminal Chamber were, as a rule, unanimous. These elements reveal the reproduction, within the judicial sphere of Paraíba, of mechanisms that legitimize precautionary imprisonment associated with drug policy.