Mandate for STF has resistance and is sidelined in the Senate – 03/19/2023 – Power

Even having been ventilated by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), the possibility of creating mandates in the STF (Supreme Federal Court) is not a priority, according to leaders of the House, and displeases part of the ministers of the court.

It would also not affect the current composition of the Supreme, and would only be valid for future ministers appointed by the President of the Republic.

Pacheco has already said that the definition of terms is a “legitimate” discussion, but senators close to him believe that he started talking about the topic only to stop Bolsonarists from attacking magistrates, especially with requests for impeachment.

Allies of the President of the Senate also claim that, for him, the debate could only advance in Congress with the approval and participation of the Supreme Court itself – and there is no prospect of that happening.

They also say that any discussion at this time could sound like an attack on the court, and that, especially after the invasion of the headquarters of the three Powers, in January, the moment must be for even more unity between Congress, the Supreme Court and the Presidency of the Republic.

Despite Ricardo Lewandowski, who retires in May, having said at an event that he was always in favor, “academicly”, of the idea of ​​mandates, the minister’s interlocutors claim that he is not sympathetic to the discussions amidst a climate of bellicosity against the STF, encouraged in recent years by former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Among the other ministers, there is division between those who are not opposed to the idea and those who are completely opposed to the discussion.

In practice, the change would also create two categories of justices on the court: the current one, who has the right to hold the position until retirement, and those who would have mandates. A joke that circulates in the Supreme Court is that these would be the “short togas”.

This year, Lula will be entitled to nominate two ministers. One for Lewandowski’s vacancy and another for Rosa Weber, the current president, who will retire in October.

Even without a political climate, senators from different parties are sympathetic to the creation of mandates in the STF.

The assessment of a base leader is that the agenda would gain adherence if a parliamentarian with influence among colleagues was willing to organize the debate.

Senators also remember that the former senator and now minister of the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) Antonio Anastasia proposed non-renewable 10-year terms when he reported a PEC from 2015 that ended up archived at the end of the last legislature.

Today, the ministers of the Supreme Court do not have a mandate, but are obliged to retire at the age of 75. They are appointed by the President of the Republic, reviewed by the CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) of the Senate and approved by the plenary of the House.

“The definition of mandates for the STF and superior courts is a good mechanism to mitigate the excessive power concentrated in the hands of a few magistrates”, says senator Alessandro Vieira (PSDB-SE).

In recent days, the debate has been raised by senators Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA) and Plínio Valério (PSDB-AM) —who even asked the president of the CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), to place the PEC its authorship under discussion.

“This already exists in several countries, mainly in Europe. I think it’s a way for you to oxygenate the courts so that a person doesn’t enter young and spend 30, 35 years there”, says Coronel, pointing out that eventual changes would only apply to future ministers.

Despite some appeals, leaders say that Congress should already address this year on tax reform and a new fiscal framework, considered complex. Furthermore, even opposition senators believe that the debate should take place far from a climate of confrontation.

“We have two vacancies [para o Supremo] in this year. A PEC on a topic like this cannot be resolved in a week or six months”, says MDB leader in the Senate, Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM).

“I think we have to be cautious about this. It’s not that I’m against the discussion or debate on the merits. What I think is that the moment is not opportune”, he adds, emphasizing that the debate can also contaminate the sabbath of future nominees by Lula.

Former judge of the Lava Jato operation, Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) is in favor of the single 12-year term for ministers, and says that there are “a series of improvements that can be discussed to improve the court”.

Considered partial by the Supreme Court when deciding in the process that took President Lula to prison, Moro also defends that the STF loses the competence it has today to judge criminal cases.

“Now, I do not agree that this should be done in a climate of confrontation, a climate of conflict. In this regard, I even share the understanding of the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, that it has to be done in dialogue with the Federal Supreme Court itself”, he says. .

The STF and Minister Alexandre de Moraes were the main targets of Bolsonarist senator Rogério Marinho’s (PL-RN) campaign during the race for the presidency of the Senate.

Former president Jair Bolsonaro himself even asked for Moraes’ impeachment in 2021, which progress was denied by Pacheco.

Last month, the senator stated that debating the creation of mandates and the scope of monocratic decisions —taken by a single magistrate— is much better than “that insanity of attacking the figure, the person of the minister”.

“When talking about the impeachment of a STF minister as if this were a solution for all evils, I say: this is not a solution for all evils. I would never allow an impeachment of a STF minister for a decision he made “, he said.