Deputy studies action that could block anti-STF PEC – 11/28/2023 – Power

Federal deputy Orlando Silva (PC do B-SP) is considering filing a writ of mandamus with the STF (Supreme Federal Court) against the processing of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) which limits monocratic decisions by court ministers.

If the parliamentarian decides to question the proposal, members of the STF say that the court could accept it, halting the discussion on the matter in the Chamber of Deputies.

Members of the Supreme Court count on the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to block the issue in the House, but they have already publicly indicated that they consider the project unconstitutional and have a majority to overturn the text.

“In my opinion, the Federal Senate voted on an amendment to the Constitution that does not deal with constitutional matters. Worse, a text that violates the Constitution, the independence of the Powers. A proposal like this cannot even be processed”, Silva stated to Sheet.

For the deputy, Congress must deal with the resumption of economic growth, “not fueling institutional crises”.

“I am studying the application of a writ of mandamus against the processing of this proposal,” he said.

The PEC was approved last week in the Senate with 52 votes to 18 — 49 would be needed for it to pass — and with the support of the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA).

The text establishes that so-called monocratic decisions — issued individually by ministers — cannot suspend the effectiveness of a law approved by Congress and sanctioned by the Presidency. For this to happen, there must be collegial decisions.

Only the president of the STF would be authorized to make decisions alone during the judicial recess, with the obligation that the matter be analyzed within 30 days by the court’s plenary.

Today, ministers can make monocratic decisions on any topic and can annul, through injunctions, any law at the federal, state or municipal level. The decision is automatically included in the agenda of the next virtual session, according to a change in the Supreme Court’s rules adopted in 2022 under the presidency of Minister Rosa Weber.

For the PEC to be approved, a time limit for requests for review — suspension of judgments — was removed because the STF’s internal rule had already resolved the issue.

The approval of the PEC was harshly criticized by STF ministers and classified as an attack.

As shown by Sheetthe dean of the court, minister Gilmar Mendes, has already given indications, in a speech on Thursday (23), that the Supreme Court would not hesitate to overturn the PEC, which went to the vote on the initiative of the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG ).

“The fact is that this Federal Supreme Court, always attentive to its institutional responsibilities and the context that surrounds it, is prepared to face, once again and if necessary, the disproportionate and unconstitutional attacks now coming from the Legislative Branch”, he stated the magistrate.

The minister called Wagner even before the end of the session to complain about his vote in favor of the PEC.

Federal deputies claim that Gilmar also wanted to make it clear that the STF will not accept the PEC that amends article 49 of the Constitution to allow Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions.

The proposal was presented at the end of September by federal deputy Domingos Sávio (PL-MG), but is stuck in the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee, without a rapporteur.

According to parliamentarians, the minister did not hide his discomfort with the progress of discussions in Congress during a lunch organized at the beginning of the month by the Parliamentary Front for Commerce and Services, chaired by Sávio.

The president of the STF, Luís Roberto Barroso, and minister Alexandre de Moraes also complained about the approval of the proposal that limits monocratic decisions.

Barroso stated that the court sees no reason for constitutional changes that aim to alter the rules of its operation. “The STF is the target of proposed legislative changes that, in the court’s view, are not necessary and do not contribute to the country’s institutionality”, said the president of the Supreme Court on Thursday (23).

After the repercussion, Lira did not give clear signs of how she intends to handle the issue, but said in conversations with people close to her that emotions are high both in Parliament and in the STF and that it would not be possible to discuss anything in this climate. For interlocutors, this indicates that the president of the Chamber does not intend to address the issue this year.

The government leader in the Chamber, José Guimarães (PT-CE), told Sheet also do not believe that the topic will prosper in 2023, only later, when the mood “calms down”.

“Firstly, it is not correct for the Senate to impose on the Supreme Court this type of, so to speak, constitutionalization of ministers’ decisions. On the other hand, in the Supreme Court, regarding monocratic decisions, they cannot be the rule either. They have to be the exception.”

He advocates a middle-of-the-road solution. The idea would be to constitutionalize what the STF’s regulations already provide, because, according to him, sometimes the STF “exaggerates” in monocratic decisions.