THE PHENOMENON OF CODIFICATION AND THE BRAZILIAN CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS

Abstract

This article analyzes the phenomenon of legal codification and its relationship with the contemporary proposal for the creation of a Brazilian Constitutional Procedure Code. Initially, the study examines the historical origins of modern codification, especially following the enactment of the Code Napoléon, as well as the theoretical foundations that structured the codifying tradition within Romano-Germanic legal systems. Subsequently, the paper explores the conceptual distinctions between codification, consolidation, systematization, decodification, and recodification, highlighting the criticisms directed at the classical model of codes in light of normative fragmentation and the increasing complexity of contemporary societies. The research also addresses the formation of the Brazilian codifying tradition, from the Portuguese Ordinances to the influence exercised by Augusto Teixeira de Freitas and the Civil Code of 1916. In its final section, the article examines the proposal for the codification of Brazilian constitutional procedure, concluding that it cannot properly be classified under the traditional categories of decodification or recodification, but rather constitutes an original initiative of normative systematization. The study argues that the establishment of a Constitutional Procedure Code may contribute to strengthening legal certainty, decisional predictability, and institutional accountability within Brazilian constitutional jurisdiction.