The Public Defender's Office in Brazil and the implementation of the early childhood rights.

The thesis will start with an introduction to the topic and an explanation of its purpose. We intend to answer the central question: Does the Public Defender's Office in Brazil significantly contribute to the implementation of early child rights? (How can this Brazilian institution contribute to implementing and disseminating public policies that have this objective? Which are the available tools, and in what ways this can be useful to society?). In the first chapter, the right to defence in Brazil is analysed. Laws linked to the right to defence at the international and national levels will be studied, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its monitoring body regarding the observations made on this topic to Brazil. The suggestions made to Brazil by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will also be analysed. In the second chapter, the Public Defender's Office analysis in Brazil is an essential topic to understand the function, aims, way of work and structure, investigating its work and the differences between the Brazilian way of providing legal assistance and other ways worldwide. In the third chapter, the topic is the analysis of children's rights, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in general. Also, the analysis of the monitoring reports from the Committee on the Rights of the Child to understand how this monitoring body sees this aspect in Brazil. The reports from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) regarding the child's rights in Brazil are, indeed, analysed. Then, how the Brazilian constitution and legal structure provide the rights of the Convention. Besides, to understand how children are protected and their rights. The fourth chapter aims to define early childhood and analyses its prediction in international and Brazilian legislation. Understanding the importance of this period and delimiting the difficulties encountered in implementing these rights is fundamental for the analysis carried out in the last chapter. Finally, the fifth chapter will analyse whether the Public Defender's Office in Brazil should and how and with what tools it can act in implementing early childhood rights. To illustrate, an interesting study case is brought: the acting Public Defender's Office on implementing the health rights of autistic children in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, Brazil.