The Full Bench of the Supreme Court of Justice approved on September 30, 2026, through Agreement No. 584, the Judiciary's new Institutional Policy on Access to Justice and Gender, published in Official Gazette No. 30643-B of October 27, 2026. The agreement replaces, after seventeen years in force, the policy approved on October 15, 2009 through Agreement No. 626.

According to the recitals, the update stemmed from a diagnosis that identified several challenges: expanding the populations protected by age, ethnicity, disability, human mobility or economic status; incorporating intersectionality; addressing the recommendations of international human rights bodies; and tackling the challenges of technology and artificial intelligence. The text was prepared with technical support from the Justice and Gender Foundation and sponsorship from the European Union.

The policy is organized into strategic imperatives. The third institutionalizes open justice and calls for publishing on the institutional portal administrative and judicial datasets disaggregated by sex, age, ethnicity and disability, with anonymization and personal data protection. The fourth proposes creating a case law digest with a gender perspective, promoting rulings in accessible language and tagging the Judiciary's budget with actions linked to the policy. The fifth includes developing digital services and electronic case files, as well as mobile court services for hard-to-reach areas.

For litigators, law firms and corporate legal departments, open judicial data and a case law digest could make it easier to analyze judicial trends and prepare cases. For technology providers, the lines on electronic case files and open data could anticipate future procurement, although the agreement sets no amounts, deadlines or purchasing processes.

It is an instrument of institutional guidance, not a rule imposing enforceable obligations on private parties. Article 2 of the policy urges judicial staff to adopt it and article 3 orders its dissemination among officials and users, while the agreement's second point provides that it takes effect upon approval. Its practical effect will depend on implementation plans, the budget allocated and the indicators the Judiciary adopts. Nexo Capital will follow the publication of the first open datasets and of the announced digest.

Research assisted by Sentinel, with editorial verification of official sources. Discover Legislat.ai