STF returns after coup attack and aims to judge limits to PGR – 01/30/2023 – Power

In the semester in which it resumes activities after the destruction of its main building by coup leaders who support former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the STF (Federal Supreme Court) will address issues that question the power of the Federal Public Ministry and the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras.

Aras, who was nominated for the post twice by Bolsonaro and wanted to become Supreme Minister, has been marked by inaction against the coup d’état by the former president and his allies in recent years.

The Supreme Court’s agenda between the months of February and July was released last week by the president of the court, Minister Rosa Weber. As of this Wednesday (1st), ministers will return to the physical plenary judgment sessions, which take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The agenda released by the Supreme Court is not definitive and must be adjusted, but it is an indication of what the court’s priority should be. Ministers do not usually judge most of the actions that are foreseen, and others tend to be included according to President Rosa Weber’s understanding.

Rosa, who has a discreet profile and prefers that the STF not be the focus of attention due to controversies, left out issues that could cause anger against the court, whose headquarters were the most vandalized during the attacks on the 8th.

For example, a judgment that was not ruled on is that of the time frame process, which discusses whether the date of enactment of the 1988 Constitution should be used to define the traditional occupation of land by indigenous peoples.

In September of last year, shortly after being sworn in as president of the court, Rosa met with indigenous people and undertook to discuss the matter. She retires in September of this year and has signaled that the case will be judged before the end of her term as president of the Supreme Court.

The minister included in the agenda, however, an appeal that discusses how to act when the Attorney General of the Republic requests the archiving of investigations against alleged crimes committed by authorities.

This appeal states that, if a minister of the STF forwards to the Attorney General’s Office a request for an investigation to file a complaint and the prosecutor decides to file it, the case must be sent for review by the Superior Council of the Federal Public Ministry, composed of 10 members.

It also says that a minister of the Supreme cannot determine the archiving through a monocratic decision (by only one minister), and that the case must be judged in plenary.

The action on the subject deals with a request for an investigation by the then Vice President Hamilton Mourão, for allegedly having made an apology for a “crime author, the public and notorious torturer Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra”.

Aras understood that Mourão did not commit a crime, because “he limited himself to expressing his opinion about a person with whom, according to him, he maintained a lasting friendship”. Minister Luís Roberto Barroso ordered the shelving, and the author of the action appealed.

The action was taken to a virtual plenary, and Minister Edson Fachin requested a view (more time for analysis). Now, the action was guided by Rosa Weber for the plenary of the STF.

It is customary for ministers to file investigations after a request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, but denials have already occurred, including from Rosa Weber herself in an inquiry in which Bolsonaro was investigated on suspicion of prevarication in the case of the process of purchasing the Indian vaccine Covaxin.

At the time, this led to friction between Aras and the minister. After a second request, she decided to close the investigation.

There are also two actions on the agenda by Adepol (Association of Police Chiefs of Brazil) scheduled for March, which question whether the Public Ministry can carry out criminal investigations and whether there is, in certain cases, usurpation of police powers in these investigations.

Despite few controversial cases, the Supreme Court may still have some other repercussions this semester. One of them questions whether the President of the Republic can block access to his accounts on social networks, such as Twitter and Instagram.

Another will decide whether to amend the Constitution, which does not consider cruel sports practices that use animals, as long as they are cultural manifestations, such as vaquejada.

There is also a lawsuit that questions the alteration of the limits of the National Forest of Jamanxim, in Pará. This change would allow the creation of Ferrogrão, a railway project that was run by the Bolsonaro government and which faces resistance from environmentalists, indigenous leaders and the Public Ministry.

In the economic field, as shown by the Sheet, the judgment is based on whether workers are entitled to a greater monetary correction of the amounts deposited in the FGTS. The impact of the change to the fund is estimated at more than R$300 billion.

The court’s new operating rules could also lead to the return of old cases to the plenary. According to a change in the bylaws approved at the end of last year, requests for review must be returned to the collegiate within 90 days.

Otherwise, they will automatically be released for the continuation of the trial.

The Supreme Court will return to its work with the main building still under renovation. The plenary, where the trials take place, will be restored after being destroyed on the 8th.

However, other sectors of the main building, which was destroyed, will still be under renovation throughout the semester.

After the invasion of the main building, security focused on protecting the basement of the Supreme Court and the annex buildings, where the offices of ministers and other administrative sectors of the court are located. Eight people were arrested red-handed on the occasion – one of them dressed in one of the ministers’ togas.