Barroso has already been the target of 2 impeachment requests: archived by the Senate

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), has already been the target of two requests for impeachment filed in the Senate. In December 2016, Gustavo Haddad, then 21 years old, requested the impeachment of Barroso and ministers Edson Fachin and Rosa Weber, due to the granting of habeas corpus to three accused of the crime of abortion. In November 2016, the first panel of the STF, chaired by Barroso, revoked the preventive detention of employees of a clinic that performed abortions. In his vote, followed by Fachin and Rosa, he considered that the “voluntary interruption of pregnancy” carried out until the third month of is not a crime, based on the legislation of other countries.

Recently, in November 2022, a group of seven senators filed another impeachment request against Barroso based on the minister’s reaction to a supporter of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the United States, when he said “you lost, mané”.

Now, the opposition deputies are preparing a new request, this time related to the speech that Barroso made during the meeting of the National Union of Students (UNE), on Wednesday (12), when he said that he faced and defeated “Bolsonarism”.

He will assume the presidency of the STF this year, with the retirement of the current president, Rosa Weber, who will reach 75 years. Barroso himself has already said that he should retire in 2025. The minister is 65 years old and could remain at the Court until March 2033.

archived orders

All petitions of this type, which can be sent by any citizen to the Senate, have been systematically archived by the presidents of the Senate, from Eunício de Oliveira (MDB-CE), through Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) to the current one, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), at the end of each legislature.

The law that deals with the revocation of the mandate of ministers of superior courts is the same used for the impeachment of presidents of the Republic, 1.079/1950. In the case of members of the Judiciary, complaints are sent to the Senate, and not to the Chamber, as is the case with the Executive.

The possibilities of a crime of responsibility for superior court judges are limited: altering a decision or vote already given in a court session, pronouncing judgment when suspected in the case, exercising party-political activity, acting in a deliberately slow manner and proceeding in a manner incompatible with the honour, dignity and decorum of office.

So far, no process has been initiated to remove judges from the Federal Supreme Court. At the end of last year, the president of the Senate presented a project to reform the Impeachment Law, based on proposals prepared by a special commission chaired by then Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, of the STF.

Pacheco condemns Barroso’s speeches at the UNE and demands a retraction from the minister

When commenting on Barroso’s speeches during the meeting at UNE, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), said this Thursday (13) that they were “inappropriate, inappropriate and unfortunate”, as it was a speech politician at an event of a political nature. “The minister should stick to the fulfillment of his duties, as he does not belong to this political arena, whose issues are resolved with the political subjects”, he said.

“A minister of the Federal Supreme Court, evidently, must stick to his constitutional fulfillment of judging what is demanded. So, the presence of the minister at an event of a political nature, with a speech of a political nature, is something that I find unfortunate”, said the President of the Senate.

Pacheco demanded that Barroso retract his position, after reflecting on it, especially considering that the minister is about to assume the presidency of the STF. “At a time when we are striving for political conciliation in the country, seeking peace and putting an end to hatred and divisions, attitudes like this do not help”, he criticized.

For the president of the Senate, the holders of democratic institutions need to have “mutual understanding of their limits”, and in the case of the Judiciary this is a guarantee of impartiality and independence. “We have to understand this in order to continue building a solidary and prosperous country”.

Regarding a possible impeachment request for Barroso, which is being prepared by the opposition in Congress, Pacheco informed that no request has yet been filed in the House and that, in his opinion, it is a rupture to be avoided in the first place. . “As an extreme measure, better seek to preserve consensus before dissent,” he said.

He stressed, however, that his conciliatory position does not indicate agreement with the mistakes eventually committed by authorities, and each case should be analyzed individually. The Minas Gerais senator also took the opportunity to defend his project that deals with the modernization of the 1950 Impeachment Law, considering it archaic and not adjusted to current times.

STF and Barroso try to explain statement

After the negative repercussions of Barroso’s statements, the STF released, this Thursday morning, a note stating that the minister did not refer to the performance of any institution. “As is clearly extracted from the context of Minister Barroso’s speech, the phrase ‘We defeat the dictatorship and Bolsonarism’ referred to the popular vote and not to the performance of any institution”, says the STF note.

In fact, the exact phrase of the minister, during the UNE Congress, in Brasilia, was: “We defeated censorship, we defeated torture, we defeated Bolsonarism, to allow democracy and the free manifestation of all people”. At this time, he did not speak of a “popular vote”.

In the afternoon, Barroso himself officially manifested. He stated, in a new note, that when using the expression “we defeat Bolsonarism”, he was referring to “the coup-mongering and violent extremism that manifested itself on January 8 and that corresponds to a minority”.

“I never intended to offend the former president’s 58 million voters or to criticize a conservative and democratic worldview, which is perfectly legitimate. I have the utmost respect for all voters and for all Democratic politicians, whether they are conservative, liberal or progressive,” said the magistrate.