The Graduate Program in Law (PPGD) at PUC-Rio has won the CAPES Award for Best Doctoral Thesis in the Law category on several occasions. Since the award was first established, we have received four main prizes, in 2006, 2008, 2016, and 2023; and two honorable mentions, in 2013 and 2020.

2023 CAPES Thesis Award

The thesis "Between the living and the dead: A documentary ethnography on the performance of the judiciary in fifteen police operations in the favelas of the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro" was the winning doctoral thesis of the 2023 CAPES Thesis Award, in the Law category. The thesis was defended by student Luciana Costa Fernandes and supervised by Professor Marcia Nina Bernardes, from the Graduate Program in Law at PUC-Rio.

Honorable Mention in the 2020 CAPES Thesis Award

The thesis "Is this a woman? Narrative disputes about memory, testimony, and justice from the experiences of female militants against the military dictatorship in Brazil" received an Honorable Mention in the 2020 CAPES Thesis Award. The work was defended by student Fernando da Silva Cardoso and supervised by Professor Márcia Nina Bernardes.

2016 CAPES Thesis Award

In 2016, the thesis "The reconstruction of the collective subjectivity of indigenous peoples in international human rights law: The rescue of the thought of the Iberian School of Peace (16th and 17th centuries) in favor of a new Jus Gentium for the 21st century" was the winner of the CAPES Thesis Award in the Law category. The thesis was defended by student Sílvia Maria da Silveira Loureiro and supervised by Professor Bethânia De Albuquerque Assy with co-supervision from Professor Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade.

Honorable Mention in the 2013 CAPES Thesis Award

In 2013, the CAPES Thesis Award granted an Honorable Mention to the thesis "The Constitution of the Brazilian Woman: An Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in the 1987-1988 Constituent Assembly and their consequences in the Constitutional text," a work defended by Adriana Vidal de Oliveira under the supervision of Professor Adriano Pilatti.

2006 CAPES Thesis Award

The thesis "The structuring of Legal Aid services in the United States, France, and Brazil and its contribution to guaranteeing equal access to Justice for all" was the winner of the 2006 CAPES Thesis Award. The work was defended by Cleber Francisco Alves under the supervision of José Ribas Vieira.