OAB representatives criticize STF abuses and receive applause

Speaking during the opening of the 24th National Conference of Brazilian Law, in Belo Horizonte (MG), this Monday (27), the national president of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Beto Simonetti, and the president of the Minas Gerais, criminal lawyer Sérgio Leonardo, were applauded when they criticized abuses by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against the prerogatives of lawyers. The president of the STF, minister Luís Roberto Barroso, was present at the ceremony.

“The OAB has no party, the OAB has no party ideology. The OAB belongs to the legal profession and to Brazil and does not allow itself to be hijacked by occasional political interests. Arbitration and authoritarianism are intolerable, no matter who it hurts. Without the commitment of the legal profession in the darkest years experienced by this country, there would not be an independent judiciary and Public Prosecutor’s Office today. We now ensure that this independence is not used to camouflage the abuse of authority”, said Simonetti.

“That is why we are against, for example, the restriction of face-to-face oral arguments by authorities who should, by obligation, set a good example for the country. The suppression of the constitutional right to contradictory proceedings and broad defense is unacceptable. It is not appropriate in 2023 to want to diminish the importance of the legal profession, which is also governed by federal law. Anyone who applauds this discretion today could, tomorrow, be the target of it”, he added.

Before the opening ceremony of the event, Simonetti delivered a letter to Barroso asking for the amendment of the Court’s internal regulations so that the judgment of original criminal actions is carried out, as a rule, in person.

Last week, the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Alexandre de Moraes, mocked the OAB by denying, once again, a request for oral argument made by a lawyer during the trial of a regulatory appeal.

On the occasion, the national president of the OAB reiterated his criticism of the judge and said that the “internal rules of a court are not worth more than the Constitution and the laws”.

Before Simonetti’s speech at the Conference, the president of OAB-MG and host of the event, Sérgio Leonardo, mentioned the president of the STF by name when charging him with the superior courts’ disrespect for lawyers’ prerogatives.

“Advocacy deserves respect. And if what life wants from us is courage, as Guimarães Rosa said, and if law is not a profession for cowards, as Sobral Pinto pointed out, we say, respectfully, but loudly: The excesses that have been practiced by magistrates of the higher courts cause us indignation and deserve our vehement repudiation”, said Leonardo as he was applauded by the public.

“We cannot admit that lawyers do not have full access to case files, who receive partial and selective copies of processes. We cannot accept the practice of judges who do not receive legal assistance. We cannot accept in any way that the legal profession is silenced or hindered in the stands before the bodies of the Judiciary. Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, illustrious president of the Federal Supreme Court, we are supporters of dialogue as a way of building bridges and not walls to achieve solutions in the name of law and citizenship, therefore, I register here on behalf of the 27 presidents of sections of the OAB that we are confident that the pains of the legal profession regarding respect for prerogatives will be healed”, continued Leonardo.

The president of OAB-MG also defended a “pact” between lawyers in defense of freedom of expression, freedom of the press and combating attacks on the right to information.

“The population cannot be controlled. And, the OAB is vigilant, it will not omit itself, as it has the independence and courage to do so”, said Leonardo, remembering that the entity is held accountable by society because it has built a reputation as a “bastion of defense of citizenship” and has the trust of the population. .

Currently, the entity has around 1.3 million lawyers across the country.

During the beginning of the lawyer’s speech, Barroso remained seated, head down, and with his right hand over his face, as if he were protecting his eyes from the spotlight while, apparently, concentrating on some reading.

Only after being mentioned by name in the lawyer’s speech did Barroso turn to the pulpit as a sign of attention.

In his turn to occupy the pulpit, at the beginning of his speech, Barroso said that he committed to the presidency of the OAB and will consult the other members of the STF on the proposal to return criminal actions to the Classes, where trials are in person and lawyers have space for oral arguments.

Then, the minister repeated part of the speech he has made at events in Brazil and abroad about his vision of “democracy”.

Without mentioning the name of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Barroso compared the past government with regimes such as Nicaragua and Venezuela. For Barroso, modern dictatorships are the result of “authoritarian populism”.

Barroso was applauded when he criticized the Bolsonaro government’s alleged “denialism” on environmental and health issues.

At the end of this Monday afternoon (27), the video broadcast of the event on OAB’s YouTube, in which criticism of Barroso was recorded, was no longer available to the public.