Diego Werneck: Ministers have to protect the image of the STF – 08/15/2023 – Politics
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Part of the legitimacy of the STF (Federal Supreme Court) depends on society’s understanding that judges acted in accordance with the law, which demands greater control over public statements and relationships with the political class.
This is one of the aspects highlighted by the professor of constitutional law at Insper Diego Werneck in his new book, “The Supreme: Between Law and Politics”, which will be released on Thursday (17) by Intrínseca.
In the work, the professor seeks to explain the functioning of the court to the common reader, going through questions such as “can they do this?”, “why this case?”, “why so much exposure?”.
“The Supreme Court is, today, a legitimate court, which plays an important role in our democracy, but with dysfunctions in the design and behavior of its members that have been gradually eroding its legitimacy as a court”, he says in an excerpt.
In an interview with Sheet, he argues that ministers adopt the same discreet behavior as Minister Rosa Weber in order to be able to judge controversial issues, such as abortion. Werneck also says that the appointment of a woman to replace the magistrate is fundamental.
Fake News Survey
For the professor, who argues that “both elections and lawsuits need to have an end, whether you like the result or not”, by not ending the so-called fake news inquiry —introduced in 2019 to investigate attacks on the court— the STF maintains living suspicions about the criteria that guide the behavior of ministers and their limits of action.
“There seems to be a political push for the court to remain at the forefront of this accountability process for what happened in the Bolsonaro government. the STF is in charge of all these investigations?”, he says.
Alexandre de Moraes
The author considers the outcome of the minister’s decisions to be positive for democracy, but states that it is necessary to observe each case. In January, Werneck criticized the official decision of the minister that removed the governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), from office after the January 8 attacks.
Although he considers Moraes’ behavior adequate, he says that any personalization is dangerous for the Supreme.
“Moraes was launched into this role, but, in the long run, the court we want is not one in which individuals are more powerful than the institution”, he says.
Decisions on the 8th of January
For Werneck, the change in the court’s rules of procedure, imposing a 90-day period for applications to be returned to the collegiate and restricting individual decisions by ministers, was “the Supreme Court’s self-criticism”.
In the case of Ibaneis, despite considering that the decision did not have convincing grounds, the professor claims that it was immediately submitted to the plenary, an important procedure in exceptional cases such as the January 8 attacks.
“These decisions were heterodox. They were unprecedented arguments in many cases and jurists disagree. This disagreement is important and should remind the Supreme Court that it is dealing with powers that cannot be normalized.”
special forum
The professor supports measures to reduce the judgment of politicians by the court, as a result of the special forum, and reinforces that the court must redouble caution with the speed of trials, public demonstrations by ministers and with whom they meet.
Weber Pink Pattern
In the work, Werneck that “it would be a serious mistake to imagine that an institution that, to a large extent, is justified by its function of curbing abuses committed by other powers should not be constantly monitored and improved to avoid abuses committed by itself”.
A Sheet the professor defends that the ministers follow the code of ethics of the judiciary and the recommendations of the CNJ (National Council of Justice) for the use of social networks. One of them, he says, reinforces that judges need to understand that the position they hold makes certain manifestations impossible.
He cites Rosa Weber’s behavior as the “gold standard” of what is expected of court members. Regarding Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, the next president of the court and the target of criticism after saying “we defeated Bolsonarism” at a UNE (National Union of Students) event in July, Werneck says that he will need to be careful with what he says.
“Before becoming president of the Supreme Court, he is a judge. The hard core of the Supreme Court’s activity is to judge and the most important thing is to convince people that it has no side and that it is making the greatest possible effort to apply rules that it did not even create.”
Abortion and controversial issues
In order to judge controversial issues, such as the decriminalization of abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, Werneck says that the court needs to “step back from public exposure and rethink its way of functioning” so that “the only controversies that arise are about the decision itself this argument convinces or not”.
Nomination of a woman to the STF
The professor considers it fundamental that President Lula (PT) seek female candidates for Rosa Weber’s vacancy, due to the fact that the court has only had three female ministers to date. The minister will retire in September.
“Even if the vacancy were for a man, this question would be posed with great force. It is an important moral obligation of any president who has that power and, in the case of President Lula, it is a commitment that seems aligned with the values he and their government profess. It’s hard to imagine that there aren’t women in Brazil who meet the requirements for nomination.”
The professor states that, despite this, the machismo that exists in the legal area makes it difficult for women to follow their path and their proximity to political actors in order to be considered for vacancies.
He adds that the nomination is a moment when the president exercises “presidential policy with a capital P” and that, just as Jair Bolsonaro highlighted the nomination of André Mendonça as an evangelical, Lula can say: “I will nominate a woman, a black woman , because I think it’s important”.
The role of Zanin and Mendonça
In the work, the professor classifies as pathological indications those made with the aim of politically interfering with the Supreme Court, putting “someone in the court of law willing to be an agent of the person who appointed him”.
Werneck claims that this does not seem to be the case with Minister Cristiano Zanin, who, like André Mendonça, has “a great responsibility to avoid damage to the court’s image”.
Although Mendonça joined minister Kassio Nunes Marques in voting against the processes to indict those accused of the January 8 attacks, Werneck sees in his votes “some halfway point on some issues”. As for Kassio Nunes Marques, he claims that the minister has already failed the test of distancing himself from Bolsonaro’s vision.
X-RAY | Diego Werneck, 41
Associate professor at Insper São Paulo and senior researcher at the Brazilian Center for International Relations. Master in Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro and another in Law from Yale University. Author of “The Supreme” (Intrinseca, 2023)
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