Final decision on Moro’s impeachment will be made by the TSE – 01/24/2024 – Power

As soon as the TRE (Regional Electoral Court) of Paraná judges the case against senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil), the case will possibly go up to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). This is because the parties involved in the action have the right to appeal against the decision of the Paraná court.

The action against Moro was motivated by representation from the PL and PT parties, which accuse the former Lava Jato judge of having made excessive expenses during the pre-election campaign period linked to the 2022 election, which would have brought an imbalance to the dispute , which he denies.

In a possible Moro victory in Curitiba, both PT and PL have already declared that they will try to reverse the trial in Brasília. Moro’s defense will also appeal if the judgment is unfavorable to him. Thus, regardless of the result in the TRE, the case will fall into the hands of the TSE.

In the event that Moro is defeated in the regional court, however, the effects of the decision will be suspended until the decision of the appeal that will follow to the TSE. In other words, even if the TRE understands that there was an abuse of economic power in the pre-campaign and determines the impeachment of the ticket headed by Moro, he will not lose his mandate immediately, as Brasília will still analyze the appeal.

Lawyers who work in the area of ​​electoral law explain that, in processes that deal with revocation of mandate, appeals to the TSE are received with suspensive effects, without the application of the regionally defined sentence.

The case against Moro should be judged by the end of February in Curitiba, according to sources who closely follow the case.

At the end of last year, the rapporteur, judge Luciano Carrasco Falavinha Souza, had informed the parties’ lawyers that the issue could come up soon after the judicial recess. However, the first in-person session of the year at TRE was held on Monday (22) and, until the afternoon of this Tuesday (23), the rapporteur had not yet included the process on the agenda.

The expectation now is that the rapporteur will ask for a trial date and present his vote only after the changes foreseen in the court, which is made up of seven judges. Thiago Paiva dos Santos (nominated by the lawyers) ended his term at TRE this Tuesday. His two replacements, José Rodrigo Sade and Roberto Aurichio Junior, end their terms next Saturday (27).

The gap interferes with the dynamics of the trial, which requires a full panel to judge cases involving the possibility of revocation.

In November, the Court of Justice of Paraná already defined a triple list of lawyers to fill Paiva dos Santos’ vacancy. In addition to Sade and Aurichio Junior, the lawyer Graciane Aparecida do Valle Lemos was nominated. Nominating a name among the three nominees will be up to President Lula (PT).

By order of the president of the TSE, minister Alexandre de Moraes, the notice with the triple list was published in the Official Gazette this Tuesday, opening a five-day period for possible objections.

If the names are not contested, the triple list may be included on the TSE’s agenda in the opening session of the year’s work, scheduled for February 1st. The names would then be sent to the President of the Republic for analysis.