Senate Committee Approves Zanin for STF

stf

If approved, Zanin may remain in the STF until November 2050

Brasilia DF) – By 21 votes to 5, the CCJ (Commission on Constitution and Justice) of the Senate approved the name of Cristiano Zanin, 47 years old, for the STF (Federal Supreme Court), this Wednesday (21). Zanin is the first nominee by Lula (PT) in the current term and is a friend of the president, for whom he advocated in the actions of Operation Lava Jato. Now, the approval will be analyzed in the plenary of the Senate.

Proximity to the president raised criticism of the nomination among opponents and in circles in the legal world, but the lawyer has the approval of STF ministers and a large number of politicians.

If approved, Zanin will be able to stay on the STF until November 2050, when he turns 75, the compulsory retirement age for court ministers. He will occupy the vacancy of retired Minister Ricardo Lewandowski.

Over the past week, Lula’s nominee toured the Senate offices to approach parliamentarians and garner support even among evangelicals and opponents of the current government.

The meeting went smoothly and the lawyer was praised, even by opponents of the president. Senators manifested themselves positively, above all, to Zanin’s guarantor profile —that is, that it reinforces the right to full defense of accused and investigated.

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

Such as Sheet showed, almost half of the current composition of the Senate has already been the subject of investigation or criminal proceedings conducted by the Supreme Court.

In his opening speech, before starting the questioning stage on Wednesday’s Saturday, Zanin defended himself against being called Lula’s “personal lawyer” and “luxury lawyer”.

“I’m a lawyer. Some label me as a personal lawyer, because I fought against personal interests, always respecting Brazilian laws and the Constitution, ”he said.

“I am also classified as a luxury lawyer, because I have defended, strictly based on Brazilian law, business causes of institutional agents that are important to the economy and that employ thousands of people. They still call me a professional lawyer, as if it were a demerit.”

Questioned by Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB) if the fact that he was Lula’s lawyer could embarrass him in trial or compromise his impartiality, Zanin said that, once appointed, he will be guided by the Constitution and will not be subordinated ” to anyone”.

“In my view, and I believe it is also the view of the President of the Republic who indicated me, a minister of the Federal Supreme Court can only be subordinate to the Constitution of the Republic”, he said.

The lawyer told Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) that he will analyze the Lava Jato processes on a case-by-case basis before declaring himself prevented or suspected.

The expected interaction between the two on the Sabbath revolved around the possibility of the lawyer judging the operation’s processes and it went smoothly.

Zanin and Moro have been at odds since the lawyer defended Lula in Lava Jato, of which Moro was a judge.

“In the recent past, almost everything that worked in specialized criminal courts often received the Lava Jato label. This is not for me a criterion for legal control, but one that the law provides for, which is to analyze the parts and the content, ”he said.

“Once a hypothesis of impediment and suspicion is identified, I will not have the slightest problem in declaring the impediment or suspicion and not participating in the trial.”

*With information from Folha

Read more:

Public opinion should not determine judgment, says Zanin

Zanin tells Moro that he will only declare suspicion in Lava Jato actions after analysis

New meeting of Zanin with evangelicals has promise of support and presence of Damares