STF has majority to maintain pensions for former governors – 11/17/2023 – Power

The STF (Supreme Federal Court) formed a majority to maintain the payment of retirement and pensions to former governors or dependents that were granted before the court invalidated the possibility.

Most of the ministers followed the vote of Gilmar Mendes, the dean of the court, who pointed out the impossibility of “suppressing benefits received in good faith for a long period of time due to the impact of the principle of legitimate expectations”.

Ministers Dias Toffoli, Edson Fachin, Alexandre de Moraes, Cristiano Zanin and Kassio Nunes Marques voted in this sense.

The request to overturn these payments had been made in 2020 by the then Attorney General of the Republic Augusto Aras.

He argued that the practice goes against the republican principles of equality, morality and impersonality, in addition to invading the Union’s competence over Social Security rules.

The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) questioned the payment of these benefits in Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Sergipe, Paraíba and Minas Gerais.

In his vote, Gilmar understood that the payments are current and valid “due to the constitutional guarantee of legal security”.

Minister Cármen Lúcia and Minister Luiz Fux, however, voted in favor of suspending payments. Until this Friday afternoon (17), ministers Luís Roberto Barroso and André Mendonça had not voted.

The trial takes place in the court’s virtual plenary, where votes are deposited in the Supreme Court’s system for a set period of time, and will end at 11:59 pm on Monday (20).

Until then, ministers can still change their votes or request a review (more time for analysis) or highlighting (taking the case to the physical plenary).