Dino adopts a moderate tone and is approved without fear in the hearing for the STF

After approximately ten hours of hearings at the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, received this Wednesday (13) the approval of the members of the collegiate to take up a seat at the Federal Supreme Court (STF). In the same session, the appointment of Paulo Gonet to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) was also endorsed by the commission. Now, both will have their names submitted to the House plenary, where they need to be approved by at least 41 senators.

Among the 27 members of the CCJ, 17 voted in favor of Dino and 10 against, revealing a tighter result than that of Gonet, supported by 23 senators on the commission. Read more about Gonet’s approval at the CCJ.

Dino managed to tame his political impulses to get through his long hearing without any last minute mishaps, heading to the STF. Adopting the profile of a licensed senator and mild speech, he managed to carry out the desire expressed in his initial statement not to enter into the debate with parliamentarians.

He was questioned by opposition representatives about his performance at the head of the Ministry of Justice, controversial statements about censorship on social media and persecution of rivals. In all situations, President Lula’s nominee resorted to evasions, the risk of prejudging matters about to be judged by the Supreme Court and changing understandings over time. The result of this was a reduction in the temperature of the entire session, without producing scenes of strong clashes with parliamentarians, such as those that occurred in Congress throughout the year.

In the format of a double hearing, together with prosecutor Paulo Gonet, Dino was favored with a more compact session and pressured by the “concentrated effort” agenda, orchestrated by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and operated by the president from CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP).

Comfortable, the minister showed calmness in delving into sensitive topics and responding to all opposition questions. Still to protect himself from rejection, he resorted to defending the prerogatives of the Legislature and expressions that show his status as a Catholic.

In this vein, he even starred in some moments of deconcentration, such as those involving senators Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) and Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS). His victory also showed the action of government negotiators and the STF itself.

Dino’s nods to the political class

During the hearing, Dino avoided controversies in the already tense relationship between the Legislature and the Judiciary and also made nods to the political class, by praising the value of parliamentarians’ leading role in controversial issues and even encouraging a certain corporatism of politicians, with or without a mandate.

The opposition, in turn, tried to pressure the STF nominee at times. The most explored topics revolved around doubts about Dino’s exemption as minister of the STF and his position in relation to topics such as freedom of expression and judicial activism. He was also questioned about his suspected omissions in the acts of January 8, contacts with criminal factions and public statements that point to persecution of political rivals. In all cases, he sought to be diplomatic and insist on the exclusion of “political debate”.

With the government’s guidance to shorten their participation, parliamentarians from the allied base expressed praise for the minister or, at most, took advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to their own causes.

Dino says he is in favor of restrictions on the STF’s monocratic decisions

Dino used his inaugural speech, made impromptu, to show himself subject to the Senate’s judgment and to highlight the presence of parliamentarians in the Supreme Court’s gallery of ministers. For him, this tradition enables him to exercise a legal role despite his “dual status”, as a jurist and a public figure.

The Minister of Justice waved to the senators explicitly opposed to his nomination, saying that he would defend the independence and harmony of the three Powers, even indicating that he was in favor of restricting monocratic decisions, in favor of collegiate decisions.

He also stated that he was against a legislative role for the Judiciary, saying that “there is no third House of Congress”. As a member of the STF, he promised to emphasize impartiality and be open to listening to politicians of all persuasions. To flatter the members of the Evangelical Front, Dino bowed to the divine will and excerpts from the Bible.

The rapporteur for the appointment of the Minister of Justice, Senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA) came to Dino’s aid, to highlight the advantages of his multifaceted profile. “Nothing better than a politician to talk to politicians,” he said. To bring him closer to the current moment in the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, the minister’s ally and fellow countryman recalled that the nominee even presented a proposal as a deputy to establish mandates in the STF.

Dino’s lack of exemption, January 8 and Bolsonaro

On the other hand, the leader of the opposition, senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), commented that, despite messages with “good intentions” from Dino and Gonet, it is impossible not to recognize the atrophy of the Judiciary and the climate of intolerance towards other people’s opinions. In this sense, he explored the difficulty of the nominee proving himself exempt, such as the joking way in which the minister failed to provide the security camera images from January 8th in possession of his portfolio.

During the hearing, Dino again said that “all existing images were made available”, denied having received alerts from the intelligence services and explained the inaction of the National Security Force due to a lack of legal conditions.

Opposition senators disagreed with these arguments. Jorge Seif (PL-SC) and Magno Malta (PL-ES) regretted not having obtained answers from the nominees on objective questions about threats to freedom of expression and growing judicial activism.

Marinho also expressed concern about Dino’s reactions that favored the country’s political polarization, with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his supporters as targets, questioning whether he would have an impartial stance as a Supreme Court judge.

“It is fair to take into account our expectation for a stay of up to 20 years in the STF”, said the senator. “You (Dino) did not show balance by prejudging the January 8 protesters and classifying them as terrorists,” he said.

In response to Rogério Marinho, Dino said that certain demonstrations are subject to punishment. The senator, leader of the opposition in the Senate, regretted the reactions and said that the country is experiencing a serious moment of relativism of rights, reaching even the mandates of parliamentarians and ordinary citizens, threatened with censorship.

Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) focused his intervention on questioning the nominees regarding the complete lack of perspective for an outcome of the investigation into Fake News (4781/2019), chaired by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, which, according to him, undermined the presumption of innocence. The senator classified the abuses of the investigation as “authoritarian rubbish”, which took on a life of its own and does not find any delimiters, “incorporating victims” according to convenience. Seif reinforced the question about the “persecuting court”, just as Marcos do Val (Podemos-ES) used his own case, as the target of sanctions by Alexandre de Moraes, to demand Dino’s position, who once again protected himself claiming ignorance of specific cases.

Dino says he is against abortion and drugs and argues that Congress should define legislation

During the hearing, Dino said he was against the release of drugs and abortion and stated that the Judiciary should not decide individually on these issues, as they are the prerogatives of the National Congress.

“For at least a decade, there have been interviews of me declaring a position against drugs, against abortion. Repeated interviews, not new. Of course, I’m not the one who unilaterally dictates society’s agenda. To dictate the ethical agenda of society, there is Parliament. I am against the Judiciary, unilaterally, making this change”, said the minister when asked about the matter by senator Efraim Filho (União-PB).

Dino stated that Congress can review current abortion legislation “at any time, but certainly not the Judiciary.” The minister also said that not only the laws on drugs should be discussed, but their applications in practice, and cited the seriousness of alcohol addiction for society.

“Let us not forget alcoholism. The biggest abusive drug addiction that exists in society is alcoholism, sometimes there is an illumination of other substances, but we need to look at this dramatic issue that devastates millions of lives. The Brazilian parliament has an irreplaceable and unique role in deciding on these matters”, he highlighted.

Before retiring, minister Rosa Weber voted to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The minister was the rapporteur of the Claim of Non-compliance with Fundamental Precepts (ADPF) 442, which is still being processed in the Court. The trial was suspended following a prominent request from Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, who now presides over the Supreme Court. There is still no set date for the resumption of the trial in the physical plenary.

This morning, Dino stated that Rosa Weber’s vote is “respectable“, but is “not in line” with her understanding of the issue. If his nomination is confirmed in the Senate, the minister will inherit the shares that belonged to the minister.