See questions about Lula and STF for Zanin’s sabbath – 06/17/2023 – Politics

Next Wednesday (21), lawyer Cristiano Zanin will be questioned by the Constitution and Justice Committee of the Federal Senate.

Parliamentarians will be able to ask questions to President Lula’s (PT) personal friend, who defended him in all Lava Jato processes and was nominated by the PT candidate for Ricardo Lewandowski’s vacancy in the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

The expectation is that it will be approved easily. After going through the CCJ, an absolute majority of the votes of the senators (41 out of 81) in plenary is enough for the nomination to be ratified.

The image of a convinced guarantor conquered in clashes with former judge Sergio Moro and other members of Lava Jato is one of the main factors that make the government optimistic for approval.

With part of the senators being investigated and another part seeking shielding to avoid legal problems, the assessment is that the legal stance of carefully observing respect for the guarantees of those being investigated will have great weight in the vote of the majority of parliamentarians.

Zanin has already spoken with more than 70 senators and has gone through offices in search of support.

In the articulation to be approved, it has the help of STF ministers who have a good relationship with the political world, such as Gilmar Mendes and Alexandre de Moraes, and even former president Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) nominees for the court, such as Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça.

In addition, the presidents of the CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), have already shown sympathy for the name chosen by Lula.

He even obtained favorable signals from the evangelical bench, which is linked to Bolsonaro and could represent a point of resistance to his name.

To avoid conflicts with the group, he has answered that questions of customs, such as the decriminalization of abortion and drugs, is a matter to be decided in the legislative sphere and that he does not intend, once minister, to extrapolate his competences as a member of the Judiciary leadership.

Another frequent question is how he will behave in relation to Lula’s lawsuits.

The lawyer must answer that the law has clear instruments to safeguard the impersonality of the judge and that he will faithfully observe what determines the legislation on cases of suspicion and impediment.

Zanin’s interlocutors say that unlike other nominees, he did not undergo training with specialists to face the sabbath.

Close people say that the wide exposure in recent years at the head of Lula’s processes, which involved tough interviews and oral arguments in large courts, guaranteed him the necessary experience.

See delicate topics that can be addressed in Zanin’s sabbath:

Indigenous rights

With a Congress hostile to indigenous causes and a government without the strength to face the ruralist caucus, the STF became one of the pillars in the defense of traditional peoples. This was the case, for example, in the actions in which the court forced the previous government to adopt strict measures to protect villages against Covid-19.

The theme is also present in the court due to the judgment that discusses whether the temporal framework thesis, which delimits the demarcation of indigenous lands to those areas occupied by them on the date of enactment of the 1988 Constitution, is constitutional:

ask Zanin: Do you understand that the process of demarcation of indigenous lands should be conducted by the Executive and regulated by Congress, or do you see room for the STF to define rules on the subject?

Police violence and mass incarceration

The president of the Supreme Court, Rosa Weber, must guide for judgment the process that discusses the decriminalization of possession and use of drugs.

Judicial and police decisions that consider users and small dealers as criminals who need to be isolated, instead of an effort to reintegrate them into society, are identified as one of the main causes for the overcrowding of prisons in the country.

In addition, the action that debates the role of the police in Rio de Janeiro is also under discussion in the Supreme Court.

questions to Zanin: Do you agree with Minister Edson Fachin’s decision to oblige the Rio de Janeiro police to use surveillance cameras during work?

Do you understand that the purchase of drugs should be considered a crime capable of causing imprisonment?

Ex-officio decisions, individualization of penalties and investigations without deadline

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, with the support of the majority of the court, has given a series of heterodox decisions on the grounds that exceptional measures are necessary to prevent the advance of authoritarianism and the spread of fake news.

The court issued ex-officio decisions, that is, without a prior request from the Public Ministry, which is the holder of the criminal action. It also judged en masse accused of coup attacks on January 8 without individualizing the conduct of each investigated. In addition, it has taken profiles of parliamentarians and activists off the air for spreading fraudulent news.

questions to Zanin: To what extent do you understand that a statement is protected by freedom of expression or does it deserve to be framed as a crime?

You, as a lawyer, have always defended respect for the rights of defendants. Do you consider it appropriate to make group judgments without individualizing conduct?

Role of the STF and judicial activism

The STF is the target of harsh criticism by Congress for allegedly invading the powers of the Legislative to create new norms instead of just interpreting the Constitution.

On the other hand, ministers argue that the Supreme Court cannot relinquish its countermajoritarian role of being able to curb advances against minorities, precisely because it is an independent Power and less concerned with pleasing the majority of the population.

questions to Zanin: Do you think that the STF has invaded the attributions of the Legislative?

In your view, was the Supreme Court right or did it enter the legislative sphere by equating homophobia with the crime of racism due to legislative omission by Congress?

Barriers and Relatives

In addition to defending President Lula, Zanin advocated for large companies and entities in the country. He owns an office, which should remain under the control of his wife, Valeska Zanin. It is common in the Supreme Court and in superior courts for ministers’ relatives to act in millionaire cases.

questions to Zanin: Do you intend to judge cases involving companies with which you have had a professional relationship?

Do you intend to declare yourself a suspect to analyze actions involving clients of the firm that you follow with their families?

How will it behave in Lula’s criminal cases that are still before the Supreme Court? And actions against decrees and norms signed by the president in the current term, do you feel impartial enough to judge?

Working relationships

Three former nannies of the children of the couple Cristiano Zanin and Valeska Teixeira Zanin Martins entered the SP Justice with accusations of moral damages and abusive working conditions. The first two actions are from 2017 and the last in 2023.

Ask Zanin: You have suffered lawsuits from former nannies who report disrespect for labor rules, in addition to moral damages. How do you respond to these accusations and what is your position on the current labor legal framework?