Judge may have restrictions when taking over Lava Jato court – 11/10/2023 – Power

With priority to take over the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, judge Danilo Pereira Júnior may have a limited role in front of the remaining processes of Operation Lava Jato, according to legal experts consulted by Sheet.

According to the seniority criterion, the judge comes first among those registered to act in the Lava Jato court, but his name still needs to be endorsed by the Administrative Court of the TRF-4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region), which is the second instance of the Federal Courts of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

The possible obstacle would be in article 252 of the CPP (Criminal Procedure Code), which prohibits the exercise of jurisdiction by the magistrate in the process in which he “has functioned as a judge of another instance, ruling, in fact or in law, on the issue “.

Pereira Júnior has already acted in Lava Jato cases in the second instance, at TRF-4. He replaced members of the collegiate who were on vacation, for example, and was also summoned to act in the regional court in place of judge Salise Monteiro Sanchotene, appointed at the end of 2021 by the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) to the position of advisor to the CNJ ( National Council of Justice). Her term at the CNJ ends next month.

Experts interviewed by the report say that, in principle, his performance in the TRF-4 would not prevent him from being appointed to the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, since the removal competition would use the seniority criterion. But they consider that the judge may be prevented from acting in specific cases, due to the CPP restriction.

“The fact that the judge had acted in Lava Jato criminal actions as a summoned judge would not prevent him from taking over the 13th Court. According to the CPP, the only impediment that could occur would be in cases in which the judge had acted in the second degree as a summoned judge” , says lawyer Frederico Brusamolin, specialist in criminal, international and European law from the University of Coimbra (Portugal).

“This impediment aims to respect the accused’s guarantee of having his case reviewed by a different judge than the first”, states Brusamolin.

Lawyer Nicole Trauczynski, regional coordinator of IBCCrim (Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences) in Paraná, has a similar opinion. “I see no impediment to taking over the 13th Court as a whole, but only an impediment in specific cases in which he has previously acted within the scope of TRF-4”, she states.

Retired federal judge Vladimir Passos de Freitas, former president of the TRF-4, also understands that the magistrate will only “be impeded in the processes in which he has judged any request in court that is related to the process in progress in the court, a habeas corpus , for example”. “The rest continues normally,” he says.

The fact that the judge has already worked in Lava Jato in the second instance is an issue that must be analyzed by the Administrative Court of TRF-4, when the collegiate meets to endorse the name of the new court holder.

According to the internal regulations of the regional court, when there is more than one interested party, the decision on removal requests will respect seniority in the career. Pereira Júnior joined the Federal Court through a public examination in June 1996.

Also according to internal rules, the Special Administrative Court may reject a removal request “for reasons of duly justified public interest”. The decision would need to have the vote of an absolute majority of its members.

The vacancy at the head of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, the same one that was occupied by Sergio Moro until 2018, has now been opened due to the permanent removal of the incumbent, judge Eduardo Appio, who must be transferred to the 18th Federal Court.

Appio had been temporarily removed from the 13th Federal Court since May as a result of disciplinary proceedings opened against him at the TRF-4 Internal Affairs Department. Last month, he made an agreement to permanently leave the Lava Jato Court. In return, the disciplinary process must not generate any punishment.

Currently, it is judge Fábio Nunes de Martino who is in charge of the Lava Jato Court, on a provisional basis.

In addition to Pereira Júnior, two other magistrates signed up for the removal contest, placing the 13th Federal Court as the first option. Judge Fábio Nunes de Martino himself, who originally belongs to the 1st Federal Court of Ponta Grossa, and also Diego Viegas Véras, from the 4th Federal Court of Cascavel.

In the 12th Federal Court, it was Pereira Júnior who signed the release of today’s president Lula (PT), in November 2019, following the decision of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) on arrest only after the final judgment of a case (when not there is more possibility of appeal). It was up to Pereira Júnior, with a colleague, to manage the prisons and possible benefits, including for Lava Jato convicts.

Pereira Júnior has also worked as an assistant judge in the office of Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the STF, during the trial of the Mensalão scandal, in which important PT figures were denounced. This relationship ended in 2014.