Brasilia (AFP) – Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposal introduced in Congress to limit the individual powers of its judges, warning that it could represent a “democratic setback.”
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“Institutions are not sacrificed on the altar of political interests,” Luis Roberto Barroso, president of the STF, said in a statement on behalf of the country’s highest court at the opening of the plenary session on Thursday.
The previous day, the Brazilian Senate approved the project banning “unilateral decisions” by the eleven members of the STF, in favor of a “collective decision” taken by majority.
If this legislative initiative is approved, it will mean a change in the constitution.
The Front views “with concern the legislative progress regarding its actions”, after “verbal attacks (by the government of Jair Bolsonaro) and physical attacks”, referring to the riots against the headquarters of public authorities in Brasilia on January 8 by followers of the former president ( 2019-2022).
The former far-right president maintained constant confrontations with judges over decisions that conflicted with his interests, and even threatened them.
The Supreme Court warned that in “all countries that have recently experienced democratic decline, the erosion of institutions has begun with changes in the supreme courts.”
The initiative, which has not yet been discussed in the House of Representatives, constitutes a new confrontation between the powers after controversial decisions regarding indigenous lands.
The STF president added: “It is inevitable that the Supreme Court will arouse discontent from the political, economic and social sectors” with its approach to controversial cases.
But “there is no institutional framework capable of resistance if every sector that feels disturbed by the court’s decisions wants to modify its structure and work.”
In turn, Judge Gilmar Méndez stressed that “the court does not accept intimidation” and is ready to “face again, if necessary, excessive and unconstitutional attacks.”
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is also president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and has been a favorite target of Bolsonaro, stressed for his part that the court “is not made up of cowards or afraid people,” so it will “show courage” in defending the independence of the judiciary.
The President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, allied with the government of the leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, stressed on Thursday before the press that the project “does not constitute any kind of confrontation or retaliation” towards the STF, rejecting “aggressions” from part of the court.
Debate in Congress to limit the STF’s authority has accelerated in recent weeks after several judicial decisions contrary to the majority in the legislature, especially regarding the demarcation of indigenous lands.
The Front ruled in September against the Temporary Framework, which gives indigenous people the right to claim only lands they occupied on October 5, 1988, when the Magna Carta was passed.
A week later, the Senate approved this hypothesis, but Lula later objected to the text.
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