Justice delays in the case of the judge accused of abuse against women – 03/29/2023 – Frederico Vasconcelos

A group of women who work in the Judiciary, concerned about machismo and domestic violence, made a preliminary assessment of the complaints against Judge Valmir Maurici Júnior, from Guarulhos (SP).

The main finding is that Justice would have taken time to intervene, considering the seriousness of the accusations of physical and psychological violence and sexual abuse by the judge against the woman.

Seven specialists were consulted (magistrates, lawyers and members of the Public Ministry), who could choose to have their names preserved.

The blog asked: “Given the image that the contests of the courts would be more rigorous or prejudiced when evaluating the candidates, would these abuses of judges against women be detected if there was the same rigor in the exams for the entrance of the men in the career?”

Here are some observations:

– The courts in general take a long time to start an investigation involving magistrates;

– The psychotechnical exams in competitions for the admission of candidates to judges should be more rigorous, although there is no unanimity on this issue;

– People’s privacy must be preserved, but society needs to know about the court’s decision in the most serious cases;

– If the practice of misogyny and machismo is rejected every day, the control of violence against women can be more effective.

This Tuesday (28), the national justice inspector, Minister Luis Felipe Salomão, filed a disciplinary complaint against the magistrate.

The CNJ reported that the internal affairs department is analyzing the need to remove the judge, who would be on medical leave. The Internal Affairs of the State of São Paulo, the presidency of the Court of Justice of São Paulo (TJSP) and the rapporteur of the police investigation were summoned to provide updated information on the facts, within 5 days.

Potential aggressiveness

“Faced with repeated cases of magistrates in domestic violence and other incidents, the psychotechnical examinations for acceptance of candidates to enter the magistracy have to be carried out with more rigor”, says lawyer Maria Berenice Dias, specialized in affective law.

First judge and judge of the TJ-RS, Berenice understands that currently there is no differentiation of criteria for admitting women to the judiciary.

“But it is difficult not to detect in a well-done exam this type of potential aggressiveness of the candidate”, he says.

A prosecutor says she does not believe it is possible to perceive certain aspects of the candidate’s personality in competitions for judges.

“As the judiciary is a career that until recently was exclusively male, after entering the career they accept the code of silence and protection that feeds this idea of ​​superiority, of power, which turns out to be permissive.”

“Reports of more rigorous evaluations, and even biased towards the entry of female judges into the career, unfortunately portray gender inequality in society. So much so, that there is not even publicity of such manifestations of prejudice and discrimination, although it is known that they existed and still exist”, says judge Andréa Pachá, from the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro.

“I have doubts about the possibility of diagnosing sexism and violence through assessments, when accessing a career. But I am sure that if the practice of misogyny and sexism is rejected every day, control could be more effective”, says Pachá.

“It is essential to give visibility to the problem and not perpetuate the false perception that gender violence is not practiced in the Judiciary, or that women are not victims of the same violence in legal careers.”

Pachá was counselor of the National Council of Justice. She understands that “judges only come from a society that, regrettably, continues to kill women, and that lives with inequality, as if it were natural to perpetuate submission”.

CNJ in the spotlight

The performance of the CNJ was corrected by a prosecutor. “If the CNJ decided to do something, it is because the judge’s conduct must have been scandalous. It was not possible to temporize.”

“And there is also political correctness: it would not be good for the CNJ, in current times, to remain inert and bring the matter to the public in other ways”.

A lawyer goes further. “The new CNJ program, as the protagonist of the Maria da Penha Law, is a great exhibition vehicle, because now women are in fashion…”

She sees excesses by the Judiciary control body, “in the face of so many serious problems occurring in the judiciary, especially in relation to corruption, nepotism, patrimonialism, etc.”

A prosecutor who works in the criminal area believes that, if the situation portrayed in the media is confirmed — “and I’m glad the media exists”, she says –, the case is one of dismissal. “He doesn’t have retirement or availability, depending on his time in his career. It’s a heavy criminal process, with imprisonment”.

“The case of this citizen is really criminology”, he comments.

She says that the most conservative courts, like that of São Paulo, “always had the stigma of making it difficult for women to participate in competitions”.

“We live in a sexist, patriarchal society that is violent against women. This is reflected in all sectors, including the judiciary.”

“What is at the bottom is the yearning to exercise power. The fact that the defense complained about the ‘leaks’ draws attention. They wanted to deal with everything without social control, which is easier for the judge, as he would not charge the judges, usually men, in a generally corporate environment”.

Another attorney adds: “Social criticism is open today, especially if there is an authority involved. It is machismo that makes one feel powerful, superior, and this distortion of prerogatives and guarantees that they understand as the MMA power”.

Political scientist Maria Tereza Sadek agrees that more rigor in evaluating judge candidates would be essential. “And less network of influence. In this sense, the role of the media is absolutely fundamental”, she says.

A judge defends the preliminary removal of the magistrate. “And the punishment needs to be exemplary,” she says.

“The case is very strange. The victim had a protective measure. The case is very serious, sexual violence, physical violence against his own wife and against his mother-in-law. I cannot understand why there was no lightness in this communication to remove the judge outright. “

“Justice is very slow. This is not uncommon. The same happened with the judge Eduardo Siqueira, from TJ-SP, who offended a municipal guard. They waited 42 representations to take action”, he says.

“But I will not go so far as to say that there is a flaw in the selection of judges”, he concludes.

Other side

Judge Valmir Maurici Júnior’s defenders, lawyers Marcelo Knopfelmacher and Felipe Locke Cavalcanti, “vehemently deny the facts” imputed to the magistrate and repudiate “illegal leaks of processes that run in secrecy of Justice”, informs the BOL/UOL website.

The Court of Justice of São Paulo informs that “the Corregedoria Geral da Justiça has adopted all the administrative measures applicable at the time”.

“For now, the magistrate is not in the exercise of jurisdictional functions. Other information cannot be disclosed due to the secrecy procedure.”