Fux votes against mandatory guarantee judge; trial will resume in August

The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Luiz Fux finalized his vote this Wednesday (28) and considered the guarantees judge model defined by the 2019 Anti-Crime Package to be unconstitutional. Among the arguments presented, Fux stated that the adoption cannot be mandatory.

He cited difficulties that prevent implementation in all parts of the country, such as the lack of judges, civil servants and budget. In addition, the minister mentioned that the Constitution defined that the number of judges in the jurisdictional units must be proportional to the effective judicial demand and the respective population. For the minister, the implementation of the mechanism should be optional.

“Obliging all counties in the country to have a competent authority to process investigations, but incompetent for the subsequent criminal action, manifestly violates the aforementioned norm, in addition to confronting the exclusive competence of the Judiciary Power of the states and of the Union in the initiative of laws on the matter itself”, stated the rapporteur.

The judgment on the validity of the guarantees judge’s mechanism began on the 14th of this month, but a request for an early review by Dias Toffoli postponed the outcome. Toffoli pledged to return the files on the return of the Judiciary recess, which takes place between the 2nd and 31st of July.

The President of the STF, Minister Rosa Weber, scheduled for August 9 the resumption of the trial on the constitutionality of the guarantees judge. With that, the recovery session will be held after Cristiano Zanin takes office at the Court, scheduled for August 3, informed Agência Brasil.

The adoption of the guarantees judge was expected to come into force on January 23, 2020, according to the anti-crime package approved by the National Congress. However, it was suspended by an injunction from Fux. Now, the Supreme judges the case definitively.