Brazil expands civil ID, biometric training across justice system

Brazil’s National Council of Justice (CNJ) has trained 4,637 professionals in its latest online cycle on civil identification and documentation for people in prisons and socio‑educational programs.

The two‑day program offered seven modules. Topics included custody hearing identification, voter registration, issuing national ID cards, CPF regularization and biometric collection.

Since 2023, six training cycles have reached more than 29,000 participants. The initiative is part of Pena Justa and the Juvenile Justice Agenda, with technical support from the Fazendo Justiça program.

The broader identification program has also expanded nationwide. More than 911,000 people have been identified and 847,000 documents issued or located. More than 150 institutions are part of the network.

Officials say continued training is needed to standardize identification procedures across states. Judge Ricardo Alexandre da Silva Costa said training consolidates identification flows in states. Coordinator Luís Lanfredi noted strong demand for improving services.

Practical benefits are already visible. In Mato Grosso do Sul, the SERPJud platform now issues birth certificates in 24 hours instead of two months. In Paraíba, the training has supported implementation of biometric identification procedures.

CNJ says documentary regularity is key to social inclusion. The program aims to ensure that people deprived of liberty and adolescents under measures can access civil rights through proper identification and documentation.

The justice-sector initiative sits within Brazil’s broader expansion of biometric identity infrastructure. Serpro, the state-owned Federal Data Processing Service, operates major federal identity systems, including a facial database that has grown to 376 million images, with duplicate records pushing the total above the country’s population.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  Brazil  |  civil registration