Mojo Justice.

BRAZILIAN JUSTICE CAN RUN TO extremes--from the kangaroo court, where a horde of villagers fatally beat confessed murderers, to a cybercourt, where a jurist relies on a laptop in handing down decisions. Now one judge has built a kinder, gentler courtroom.

Judge Roberto Portugal, nicknamed the "Zen Judge," keeps lights dim, the music mellow and the scent aromatic in his civil court in Brazil's southern city of Curitiba. He maintains that the soothing green paint on his Walls puts defendants and plaintiffs in a negotiating mood. For good measure, he provides cookies and milk.

Before Portugal gave his courtroom a makeover, about half his litigants settled their differences without a trial. Now more than two-thirds do. Given that success, the casual court has attracted the attention of other judges who want the city to repaint their chambers, install new lighting and add stereo systems.