ARGUMENTATION, FACTS AND TRUTH IN THE CRIMINAL PROCESS IN CONSTITUTIONAL STATES/ARGUMENTACAO, FATOS E VERDADE NO PROCESSO PENAL EM ESTADOS CONSTITUCIONAIS

The constitutionalisation of legal systems, a phenomenon that sought to make public control over the exercise of political power possible, required a transformation in the way in which state decision-making acts, especially those of a judicial nature, are justified. This constitutional justification of decisions is also required in the factualevidential aspects of judicial reasoning, which requires that the relations between argumentation, examination of facts and search for truth in the process, especially in criminal proceedings, in which factual issues assume greater density. With the help of the standard theory of legal argumentation, the article proposes ways for the interlocution between these contingent elements.