The minister took office on Wednesday (12) in the presidency of the (Superior Military Court) after being elected as in more than 200 years of history.
Promoting a series of breach of traditions, Elizabeth chose the National Theater for the inauguration ceremony, instead of the traditional event at the headquarters of the Military Court.
President Lula (PT) and the presidents of the House, Deputy Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), Senate David Alcolumbre (Brazil-AP), and the STF (Supreme Federal Court), Minister Luís Roberto Barroso.
In his speech, Maria Elizabeth defended more women in the higher courts and said that she will seek to implement a management based on the pillars of “transparency, identity recognition and defense of the Democratic Rule of Law”.
“My dear President Lula, the female judiciary applauds him and remains hopeful that women continue to be nominated not only for the judiciary, but for all the spaces of political and legal participation,” said the new STM president, in reference to the recent nomination, made by the Chief Executive, by lawyer Veronica Sterman for the military court.
Maria Elizabeth Rocha, 65, was nominated by Lula for the Superior Military Court in 2007. He holds a PhD in Constitutional Law from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and acted as a federal prosecutor, legal advisor to the House of Representatives, at the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and at the Presidency Civil House.
In an interview with Sheet After being elected president of the STM, the minister declared herself feminist and said she would like to leave as a hallmark in the presidency of the court defense of minorities.
“For example, we cannot apply the Maria da Penha Law. Unfortunately, there was a veto of the President of the Republic [Lula]when the Military Penal Code was changed, which said that domestic violence was not a military crime, even if the woman and the aggressor are military, “said Elizabeth.
“The military woman ends up being revitimized institutionally, because the law authorizes that, in these cases of violence, the Military Court is not the competent judge.”
The Minister’s progressive profile causes STM discomfort, seen as a conservative center in the judiciary. The resistance of Elizabeth’s colleagues made the minister have to face the fiercest dispute since the end of the military dictatorship to reach the presidency.
The STM president is chosen according to a centenary tradition. Every two years, the presidency is transferred between the categories represented (Navy, Army, Aeronautics and Civil). It assumes the oldest among the togades who have not yet chaired the court.
In 2025 the Air Force period ended in the presidency, with Minister Joseli Camelo Parente having commanded the court for two years. With the passage of STM leadership to civilians, following the tradition, Elizabeth would be chosen for the maximum post.
Minister Péricles de Queiroz, however, decided to present his candidacy – in an atypical movement and articulated with STM colleagues. The argument was that Maria Elizabeth would have already exhausted her time in the presidency of the STM when she took over the post, in a buffer mandate, in 2014.
The dispute was for secret vote, and.
“It was painful, I will not deny it. It was by a vote of difference, my vote. The point is that antiquity has always been a consolidated rule that prevails in all courts of the country,” Elizabeth said in an interview with Sheet.
“I am a feminist, and society is patriarchal. Our rights are not given, they are torn to ‘forceps’. They are removed, with a lot of struggle and with a lot of achievement from those who are segregated. So this situation is not surprising.”
President Lula appointed last Saturday (8) to the STM vacancy that will open in April, with the.
Veronica was a lawyer of the president of the PT, Deputy (PR), and the former minister in cases of. She also defended the vice-president (PSB) in lawsuit in the São Paulo Electoral Court of illegal donations for the political campaign.
With support from Gleisi and Alckmin, Sterman was quoted for a vacancy in the TRF-3 (Federal Regional Court) last year. His name, strong in the dispute, was passed after appeals by the Labor Minister, and unionists in favor of lawyer Marcos Moreira de Carvalho.
The Superior Military Court is composed of 15 ministers, ten military and five civilians. The positions are held from the nomination of the President of the Republic and approval of the Senate.
