Senate resumes discussion of PEC that imposes restrictions on the STF

The Federal Senate resumes this Tuesday (31) discussions on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC), which restricts monocratic decisions and defines deadlines for requests for review at the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The PEC vote is expected to take place on November 8, after five necessary sessions.

The discussions began on October 19th when the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), promoted a plenary session dedicated to the topic. The senator defended the proposal, arguing that the changes represent a more modern approach to the functioning of the STF.

“We also know that the Three Powers of Brazil are independent and harmonious. And they can always evolve, whether on their own initiative or with the contribution of another Power,” he stated in a record of the Estadão.

The PEC, which has the support of the opposition, has Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) as its rapporteur. He states that “everyone agrees that it cannot remain as it is, let alone the idea of ​​retreating to avoid friction”.

In the previous session, government senators did not participate in the discussion. Instead, experts such as Miguel Godoy, lawyer and professor of Constitutional Law at the Federal University of Paraná, and Antônio Nabor Areias Bulhões, lawyer and lifelong member of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), contributed analyses.

The PEC, quickly approved by the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee in a symbolic vote, establishes that the monocratic decisions of the STF cannot suspend “the effectiveness of a law or normative act” of national scope, nor acts of the presidents of the Senate, the Chamber, of Congress and the President of the Republic.

This means that a reporting minister will not be able to suspend the effectiveness of a questioned law alone, as currently provided. The PEC requires that a decision of this type be taken with the vote of at least six ministers, a majority of the STF.

Regarding requests for review, the proposal suggests that they should always be collective and limited to a maximum period of six months. This would allow that, when a minister interrupts a trial to analyze the case, the others do so as well. A second collective deadline of up to three months may be granted.

Pacheco, together with the opposition, leads the reform initiative in the STF. During an event in France, the president of the Senate stated that the changes aim to address the “crisis of credibility” faced by the Court.

In addition to the proposals discussed in the PEC, Pacheco suggested limiting the STF’s access to avoid “constant contact with society”. He also mediated the end of the opposition group’s obstruction of Congress this month.

The government, in turn, faced recent difficulties in controlling votes in the Senate, with the approval of the time frame bill and the rejection of Igor Roque’s appointment to the Federal Public Defender’s Office.