STF: Zanin will face Senate with record without rejections – 06/21/2023 – Power

Nominated by President Lula (PT) to occupy Ricardo Lewandowski’s vacancy in the STF (Federal Supreme Court), lawyer Cristiano Zanin will be questioned this Wednesday (21) by a Senate with no recent history of rejections.

The last time the House rejected a name from the court was in 1894, when it barred five chosen by then-president Marshal Floriano Peixoto.

The closest to that since 1989 was Francisco Resek, approved by 45 votes to 16, just 4 more than the required 41. Appointed by Fernando Collor in 1992, Resek had already joined the STF in the early 1980s and left the court to take over a government ministry.

Zanin will be questioned by the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission – then, an absolute majority among the votes of the 81 senators is enough for the nomination to be ratified by the plenary.

In the first years after the approval of the 1988 Constitution, the level of votes received in the Senate plenary by nominees to the STF used to be up to 50. From 1997, with the choice of Nelson Jobim, who got 60 votes to 3, the scoreboards now have a wider margin.

The highest number of votes since 1989 was achieved by Minister Luiz Fux, with 68 to 2. Chosen by Dilma Rousseff in 2011, the magistrate was part of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice).

Minister André Mendonça, the second nominee of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), received the highest number of contrary votes, being approved by 47 to 32.

Survey made by Sheet based on Supreme and Senate data since 1989, it shows that the approval stage in the House took place 14 days after the nomination in half of the cases.

Adding up the times for all the stages to replace a minister, the vacancy in the STF was filled, in half of the cases, 66 days later.

The most recent sabbath, however, illustrates an exception. Mendonça was questioned by senators 142 days after being chosen, on December 1, 2021.

The reason for the unprecedented delay was the resistance of the president of the CCJ, Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), who has the prerogative to guide the process.

The stage was only scheduled after pressure from senators, evangelicals and members of the STF, which was still lacking.

Allies of Alcolumbre said that he would only guide Mendonça’s sabbath if there was certainty of disapproval. According to them, the senator would be unhappy with the non-compliance by the Jair Bolsonaro government with promises about parliamentary amendments, in addition to preferring the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, to the court.

Before Mendonça, the longest hearing had been that of Teori Zavascki, 37 days after being chosen by Dilma, in 2011. Zavascki was the quickest definition of the former president, ten days after Cezar Peluso retired, something unusual for the petista, who defined their other names in more than 90 days.

Ministers Rosa Weber, current president of the court, and Edson Fachin, also Dilma’s choices, had their sabbaticals scheduled after 29 and 28 days of the nominations, respectively. Minister Luiz Fux was the exception, questioned 8 days after his choice.

Both Dilma and Bolsonaro faced difficulties in the political articulation with Congress in their governments. The petista was impeached in August 2016, while the former president had to seek support from the centrão to ward off the same threat.

The fastest interviews were those of Menezes Direito, nominated in 2007, in Lula’s second term, and Mauricío Corrêa, in 1994, chosen by Itamar Franco, submitted to questioning the day after the presidential decision.

Political scientist Jeferson Mariano Silva, professor at Unifesp and postdoctoral researcher at USP, where he is part of Jude (Judiciary and Democracy Research Group), states that both tighter approval scores and longer intervals are associated with choices for profiles closer to the president’s preferences than to the senators.

“The fact that no nomination was rejected does not mean that this risk does not exist, but that it is meticulously controlled. The most troubled nomination processes tend to be precisely those in which the president makes the fewest concessions to the Senate.”

In addition to the case of Mendonça and Fachin, he also cites those of Dias Toffoli, in Lula’s second term, and Gilmar Mendes, under FHC, as other examples of more presidential profiles that suffered resistance in the Senate.

As an opposite, he cites the choice of Kassio Nunes Marques, a profile of preference for senators. Professor Álvaro Jorge, from FGV Direito Rio, author of the book “Supremo Interest”, adds that, despite being approved, the magistrate faced a questioning session of almost ten hours in the House.

For the expert, the three-week deadline for Zanin’s sabbath is ideal for senators to gather information and raise questions.

In the case of the lawyer, the expectation is that he will be questioned about his friendship with President Lula.

“From a republican point of view, it is bad that you nominate someone who has this proximity. The arguments that can be raised: is this an exchange of favors? Is it doing this as an award or because you understand that he is essential for the Supreme Court?” says Jorge.

He also considers that the fact that Lula’s chosen one is a white man also weighs, in view of the need to have a plurality of experiences in the STF.

For Silva (USP), although he is identified as a personal choice of the petista, Zanin gained sympathy from the political class for his action against penal populism.

“If it weren’t for his close connection with President Lula, Zanin would be, from the senators’ point of view, a perfect nomination”, he says.

Approval score of STF ministers on the Senate floor since 1989

• André Mendonça (2021): 47 to 32

• Kassio Nunes Marques (2020): 57 to 10

• Alexandre de Moraes (2017) : 55 to 13

• Edson Fachin (2015) : 52 to 27

• Luis Roberto Barroso (2013) : 59 to 6

• Theory Zavascki (2012) : 57 to 4

• Rose Weber (2011) : 57 to 14

• toffoli days (2009): 58 to 9

• Menezes Law (2007): 61 to 2

• Carmen Lúcia (2006): 55 to 1

• Ricardo Lewandowski (2006): 63 to 4

• Joaquim Barbosa (2003): 66 to 3

• Cezar Peluso (2003): 57 to 3

• Carlos Ayres Britto (2003): 65 to 3

• Gilmar Mendes (2002): 57 to 15

• Ellen Gracie (2000): 67 to 0

• Nelson Jobim (1997): 60 to 3

• Maurício Corrêa (1994): 48 to 3

• Francisco Rezek (1992): 45 to 16

• Ilmar Galvão (1991): 48 to 0

• Marco Aurélio Mello (nineteen ninety): 50 to 3

• Carlos Velloso (nineteen ninety): 49 to 1

• celso de mello (1989): 47 to 3

• Sepúlveda Belongs (1989): 50 to 1

* Voting by Minister Paulo Brossard, in 1989, was secret and the number of votes was not found