Ths text aims to show that there is a gap between fraternity in its utopian (ideal) sense and its practical (real) sense. Th utopian sense is customarily used as the basis for the practical sense and can discursively be manipulated for any practical purpose, even against human rights. We call this the “ideological discourse of fraternity”. We explain that fraternity exists dialectically and is defied rhetorically like other phenomena. Th dialectic explains fraternity based on the idea of “fraternal openness”, and a special phenomenon that acts in the mutual recognition between individuals and in the resignifiation of otherness. We then present themain thesis: the inclusion of fraternity as a legal element that can help to prevent the ideological discourse of law itself (when this is turned against fundamental rights) and serve as a barrier of containment for the ideological discourse of moral fraternity, even though there is always the risk that this may be used to deepen the gap between utopia and practice, by becoming a legal mechanism for social oppression

This article aims to analyze changes in criminal policy aimed at decreasing juvenile crime. When violent crimes are committed by young people under the age of eighteen, the inflence of the media creates indignation, leading to a belief in punishment as the only alternative for curbing juvenile violence. A call thus arises to lower the age for criminal responsibility, currently set at eighteen, and subject young people to the penalties under common legislation. However, diffrential treatment for minors is a fundamental guarantee that embodies the principle of human dignity, expressed as the entrenchment clause, pursuant to Article 60, §4º, section iv. It is therefore subject to a Constitutional Amendment restricted to protection affrded to individuals during their psychological development process.