Hand brake lever with electrically-operated ratchet mechanism

The present invention concerns a hand-operable device (1) for controlling a parking brake of a motor vehicle, said device (1) including: a lever (2) that is hand operable to control the parking brake and carries finger-operable control means (5); and a ratchet mechanism (6) that is coupled with the lever (2) and configured to constrain movement of said lever (2), said ratchet mechanism (6) comprising a sector gear (7) and a catch (8) configured to engage said sector gear (7), thereby constraining movement of the lever (2). The device (1) according to the present invention is characterized by further including an electric actuator (9) that is: connected to the control means (5) for being controlled by the latter; and configured to cause, in response to operation of the control means (5), disengagement of the catch (8) from the sector gear (7), thereby removing the constraint imposed by the ratchet mechanism (6) on the movement of the lever (2).