Senate approves appointment of Flávio Dino to the STF

After being questioned by the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission (CCJ), this Wednesday (13), the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, was approved by the Senate plenary to occupy a vacancy on the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Dino received 47 votes in favor and 31 against. Two abstentions were recorded. To occupy the vacancy on the Court, Dino needed 41 votes in favor among the 81 senators.

With Dino’s approval, the STF will be formed by no less than 7 of the 11 ministers, having been nominated by PT members: Lula or former president Dilma Rousseff. The new minister of the Court will inherit 344 shares that were under the analysis of minister Rosa Weber, who retired at the end of September. Several of the processes relate to thorny issues involving former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the criminalization of abortion, the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, among others.

Even before the hearing, opposition congressmen had admitted that it would be difficult to block Dino’s nomination. On the other hand, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) nominee had the support of Supreme Court ministers and had already signaled, at the end of last month, that he had obtained enough votes to guarantee his approval. .

In the plenary, senator Magno Malta (PL-ES) once again argued against Dino going to the Supreme Court. “He’s contrary to everything I believe in,” he said. The rapporteur for the appointment at the CCJ, Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), stated that the hearing confirmed the “remarkable legal knowledge” and “reputation” of the new Minister of the Court throughout his career. Only Malta and Weverton spoke shortly before the vote.

Dino’s hearing, which lasted more than 10 hours, was held simultaneously with that of Lula’s nominee for the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), the electoral deputy attorney general, Paulo Gonet. The unprecedented model was considered “unconstitutional” by parliamentarians. At the CCJ, Dino was approved by 17 votes to 10.

According to senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE), who presented a point of order to try to block the format, the decision by the president of the CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), to question the two nominees at the same time is “unequivocally unprecedented and unconstitutional, while violating the constitutional principles of efficiency, proportionality and reasonableness”.

The idea of ​​the CCJ presidency was to cool down the hearing, interspersing questions for Gonet amidst the tougher questions for Dino, to prevent him from being embarrassed.

Dino adopted a moderate tone during the hearing and avoided getting into discussions with senators

During the hearing, Dino adopted a moderate tone and was approved without fear for the STF. He managed to tame his political impulses to get through the long session without any last-minute mishaps, heading to the STF. Adopting the profile of a licensed senator and mild speech, he managed to carry out the desire expressed in his initial statement not to enter into the debate with parliamentarians.

He was questioned by opposition representatives about his performance at the head of the Ministry of Justice, controversial statements about censorship on social media and persecution of rivals. In all situations, President Lula’s nominee resorted to evasions, the risk of prejudging matters about to be judged by the Supreme Court and changing understandings over time. The result of this was a reduction in the temperature of the entire session, without producing scenes of strong clashes with parliamentarians, such as those that occurred in Congress throughout the year.

In the format of a double hearing, together with prosecutor Paulo Gonet, Dino was favored with a more compact session and pressured by the “concentrated effort” agenda, orchestrated by the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and operated by the president from CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP).

Comfortable, the minister showed calmness in delving into sensitive topics and responding to all opposition questions. Still to protect himself from rejection, he resorted to defending the prerogatives of the Legislature and expressions that show his status as a Catholic.

In this vein, he even starred in some moments of deconcentration, such as those involving senators Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) and Hamilton Mourão (Republicanos-RS). His victory also showed the action of government negotiators and the STF itself.

Defense of the Supreme

Flávio Dino nodded to parliamentarians during the hearing, but also defended the actions of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). At the beginning of the inquiry, he said he was in favor of limiting monocratic decisions by ministers and discussing mandates for members of the Court. The Minister of Justice, however, refuted Malta’s claim about the existence of a “judicial dictatorship” in the country.

“There is no judicial dictatorship in Brazil, so much so that you are here as a senator saying what you are saying. So, in defense of the Brazilian Judiciary and as a former member of the judiciary and, perhaps, having the time to return to it, it is my duty to highlight my deep disagreement with this sentence, which in my opinion is deeply unfair” , said Dino.

The new STF minister also said that if he needs to judge a political opponent, he “will receive the treatment that the law provides.” Dino claimed to have no personal enemies. “Several people here have mentioned a confusion between political adversary and personal enemy. I’m not strictly anyone’s personal enemy. They say ‘Ah, Bolsonaro’… I had lunch with President Bolsonaro at Palácio do Planalto”, he highlighted.

“If tomorrow any political opponent that I may have had, at some point, arrives there, for some reason – and I hope they don’t –, they will obviously receive the treatment that the law provides”, he added.

Dino says he is in favor of restrictions on the STF’s monocratic decisions

During the hearing, the Minister of Justice waved to the senators explicitly opposed to his nomination, saying that he would defend the independence and harmony of the three Powers, even indicating that he was in favor of restricting monocratic decisions, in favor of collegiate decisions.

He also stated that he was against a legislative role for the Judiciary, saying that “there is no third House of Congress”. As a member of the STF, he promised to emphasize impartiality and be open to listening to politicians of all persuasions. To flatter the members of the Evangelical Front, Dino bowed to the divine will and excerpts from the Bible.

The rapporteur for the appointment of the Minister of Justice, Senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA) came to Dino’s aid, to highlight the advantages of his multifaceted profile. “Nothing better than a politician to talk to politicians,” he said. To bring him closer to the current moment in the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, the minister’s ally and fellow countryman recalled that the nominee even presented a proposal as a deputy to establish mandates in the STF.

Dino’s lack of exemption, January 8 and Bolsonaro

On the other hand, the leader of the opposition, senator Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), commented during the hearing that, despite messages with “good intentions” from Dino and Gonet, it is impossible not to recognize the atrophy of the Judiciary and the climate of intolerance towards other people’s opinions. In this sense, he explored the difficulty of the nominee proving himself exempt, such as the joking way in which the minister failed to provide the security camera images from January 8th in possession of his portfolio.

Dino once again said that “all existing images were made available”, denied having received alerts from the intelligence services and explained the inaction of the National Security Force due to a lack of legal conditions.

Opposition senators disagreed with these arguments. Jorge Seif (PL-SC) and Magno Malta (PL-ES) regretted not having obtained answers from the nominees on objective questions about threats to freedom of expression and growing judicial activism.

Marinho also expressed concern about Dino’s reactions that favored the country’s political polarization, with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and his supporters as targets, questioning whether he would have an impartial stance as a Supreme Court judge.

“It is fair to take into account our expectation for a stay of up to 20 years in the STF”, said the senator. “You (Dino) did not show balance by prejudging the January 8 protesters and classifying them as terrorists,” he said.

In response to Rogério Marinho, Dino said that certain demonstrations are subject to punishment. The senator, leader of the opposition in the Senate, regretted the reactions and said that the country is experiencing a serious moment of relativism of rights, reaching even the mandates of parliamentarians and ordinary citizens, threatened with censorship.

Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) focused his intervention on questioning the nominees regarding the complete lack of perspective for an outcome of the investigation into Fake News (4781/2019), chaired by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF, which, according to him, undermined the presumption of innocence. The senator classified the abuses of the investigation as “authoritarian rubbish”, which took on a life of its own and does not find any delimiters, “incorporating victims” according to convenience. Seif reinforced the question about the “persecuting court”, just as Marcos do Val (Podemos-ES) used his own case, as the target of sanctions by Alexandre de Moraes, to demand Dino’s position, who once again protected himself claiming ignorance of specific cases.

Dino says he is against abortion and drugs and argues that Congress should define legislation

Dino also said he was against the release of drugs and abortion during the hearing and stated that the Judiciary should not decide individually on these issues, as they are the prerogatives of the National Congress.

“For at least a decade, there have been interviews of me declaring a position against drugs, against abortion. Repeated interviews, not new. Of course, I’m not the one who unilaterally dictates society’s agenda. To dictate the ethical agenda of society, there is Parliament. I am against the Judiciary, unilaterally, making this change”, said the minister when asked about the matter by senator Efraim Filho (União-PB).

Dino stated that Congress can review current abortion legislation “at any time, but certainly not the Judiciary.” The minister also said that not only the laws on drugs should be discussed, but their applications in practice, and cited the seriousness of alcohol addiction for society.

“Let us not forget alcoholism. The biggest abusive drug addiction that exists in society is alcoholism, sometimes there is an illumination of other substances, but we need to look at this dramatic issue that devastates millions of lives. The Brazilian parliament has an irreplaceable and unique role in deciding on these matters”, he highlighted.

Before retiring, minister Rosa Weber voted to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The minister was the rapporteur of the Claim of Non-compliance with Fundamental Precepts (ADPF) 442, which is still being processed in the Court. The trial was suspended following a prominent request from Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, who now presides over the Supreme Court. There is still no set date for the resumption of the trial in the physical plenary.

This morning, Dino stated that Rosa Weber’s vote is “respectable“, but is “not in line” with her understanding of the issue. If his nomination is confirmed in the Senate, the minister will inherit the shares that belonged to the minister.