The application of the principle of insignificance by the police chief

Abstract

The penal legal system establishes limits for the punitive action of the State, guiding that criminal intervention should occur only in situations that cause real and significant injuries to protected goods, which justifies the existence of the principle of insignificance. Given this, the research delimits its object of study in understanding the powers inherent to the police authority regarding infractions lacking expressive harmful potential during the investigative phase. The general objective of the research is to analyze the legal foundations that legitimize the police chief to apply the bagatelle postulate in the pre-procedural phase, recognizing the material atypicality of the conduct as a way to guarantee the fundamental rights of the investigated. To achieve this purpose, the specific objectives seek to conceptualize the institute, highlighting the difference between formal and material typicality, examine the nature of the judicial police and the attributions of the police authority, analyze the doctrinal and jurisprudential divergences regarding the competence of this authority to perform the value judgment and demonstrate the practical reflexes of this application, such as procedural economy. The methodology adopted consisted of a qualitative bibliographic review, based on the analysis of pertinent doctrines, legislation and jurisprudence. The conclusions demonstrate that the police authority, by exercising a function of a legal nature, has the ability to immediately verify the material atypicality. This verification allows the closure of empty investigative procedures, preventing undue arrests and preventing the unnecessary movement of the state apparatus.