Zanin debuts and votes in favor of guarantees judge – 08/10/2023 – Power

Minister Cristiano Zanin, of the STF (Federal Supreme Court), voted in favor of the creation of the guarantees judge, in his first vote in the court’s physical plenary, this Thursday (10).

The instrument divides the responsibility for criminal proceedings between two judges: one authorizes investigation steps and the other judges the defendant.

Zanin said that the mechanism would make the penal system more impartial and independent and would help combat injustice and racial and social prejudice “which unfortunately are present in the justice system”.

“These misrepresentations, in my view, are related to undue risks of certainty, which are often made in the initial stage of the investigation”, he said.

The new minister also defended that the judge’s implementation of the guarantees should take place “within a reasonable period of 12 months”, but that he would accept its extension in a reasoned manner. The trial has been halted and is expected to resume next week.

There was already the expectation that Zanin would manifest himself in favor of the law that establishes the judge of guarantees. This would be based on his experience confronting former judge and senator Sergio Moro (União-PR), in the case against Lula, in which he acted as the president’s lawyer.

According to the rule defended by the new minister, the judge who conducts the investigations should determine arrests, searches and seizures, breach of telephone and tax secrecy in search of evidence.

The second magistrate would judge whether the suspects are guilty or innocent. The goal would be guarantee that the second judge is not contaminated in the preliminary phase of the process, allowing his exemption.

In an article published on the website Consultor Jurídico in 2021, Zanin had already defended the judge of guarantees, even addressing psychological fundamentals.

In the text, written in partnership with lawyer and psychologist Graziella Ambrosio, Zanin detailed the phenomenon known as “tunnel vision”, or tunnel vision, a human tendency “produced due to certain cognitive biases”.

Because of him, the text says, “every time the different actors in the system [judicial] develop an initial belief or suspicion, hold on to it, and then interpret all further information in such a way as to be consistent with or confirm the initial belief”.

Citing US authors and research, they also claim that the phenomenon would be “a natural human tendency, as cognitive biases are part of the way the human brain works”. The situation, however, would be “capable of affecting the quality of criminal investigations, of the evidence obtained and, as a necessary consequence, the quality of the decisions that judges make”.

The STF resumed judgment on the validity of the guarantees judge this Wednesday (9), amid an appeal by the 27 presidents of the Courts of Justice of the states and the Federal District so that the model —if maintained— is not installed immediately .

In letters sent to the Supreme Court, the judges who preside over the state courts report budgetary and structural difficulties for the change approved by Congress in 2019 and sanctioned by former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to be implemented.

In June, Minister Luiz Fux, rapporteur for the proceedings on the subject, voted for the judgment, which was interrupted by a request for a review (more time for analysis) by Minister Dias Toffoli. On the occasion, Fux voted against the mandatory implementation of the guarantees judge.

Upon resuming the trial this Wednesday, Dias Toffoli expressed himself in favor of setting a period of 12 months for the courts to adopt measures for the implementation and installation of the guarantee judge.

This period could be extended only once, for another 12 months, under justification to be presented to the CNJ (National Council of Justice).