Lula nominates Rodrigo Pacheco and Raul Araújo candidates for the STJ

Lula government

The judges Elton Leme, from Rio de Janeiro, and Carlos Von Adamek, from São Paulo, were defeated in the final stretch

Criticized for not appointing women or blacks to higher courts, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appointed this Wednesday (06), judges José Afrânio Vilela, of the Minas Gerais Court of Justice, and Teodoro Silva Santos, of the Court of Justice of Ceará, for two vacancies open and reserved for the judiciary at the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

Vilela was defended by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD), and Santos had the commitment of PT caciques from Ceará. Last week, Lula also nominated lawyer Daniela Teixeira for a vacancy reserved for lawyers at the STJ.

Santos was the only black magistrate in the dispute. He was formerly a magistrate at the Court of Justice of Ceará. To enter the quadruple list, Santos was defended in the dispute by Minister Raul Araújo, his countryman, who already gave favorable votes to former President Jair Bolsonaro, but also had the support of former Minister Cesar Asfor Rocha, another influential countryman, and supporters of the state such as the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana (PT), and the Governor of Ceará, Elmano de Freitas (PT).

With these three nominations, Lula makes his first appointments to the STJ, which still need to go through a sabbatical and approval in a secret ballot in the Federal Senate. Lula will still have two vacancies to nominate to the STJ this year. Vilela’s nomination relied on appeals from the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who had not been able to place lawyer Luís Cláudio Chaves, his advisor and former ally, in the advocacy vacancy. Vilela is also close to former Minister Anderson Adauto, who headed the Transport portfolio in the first Lula administration.

The judges Elton Leme, from Rio de Janeiro, and Carlos Von Adamek, from São Paulo, were defeated in the final stretch. Leme was supported by Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and Adamek had the preference of Minister Dias Toffoli, in addition to having the support of other ministers with whom he worked in the National Council of Justice (CNJ). Ministers of superior courts assess that both Leme and Adamek had little chance of being nominated because the two states (RJ and SP) already have the two largest benches of the STJ.

*With information from IstoÉ

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