THIS PAPER deals with the philosophy of government forms and refers to the brake and counterbalance doctrine, showing the necessity to establish a distinction between State Powers. The past and present structure of the Brazilian Justice are summarized and the constitutional principles and the citizens'jurisdicional guarantees are mentioned. A Law and Justice crisis is identified. Worries are expressed concerning the effectiveness of civil rights and the legitimacy of the judiciary as a Power is focused on from the point of view of the society it serves. The paper concludes that in order to face the State crisis, of which the judiciary is an aspect, a mentality change and creativeness are necessary.