Moraes is a judge with ‘excessive power’, says The Economist – 16/04/2025 – Power

by Andrea
0 comments

The Federal Supreme Court () must exercise “moderation” if you do not want to become the target of a confidence crisis of Brazilians, says an article published on Wednesday (16) by.

To “restore its image of impartiality”, the Court should make the trial of former president (), accused of leading an alleged coup plot in the plenary.

The case is currently being tried by the first class, consisting of five ministers: Cristiano Zanin (president), Luiz Fux, Flávio Dino and Cármen Lúcia.

“Of the five, one is former Personal Subvocado de Lula [Zanin] And another is your former Justice Minister [Dino]. Judgment, therefore, runs the risk of reinforcing the perception that the court is guided by both politics and law. “

With strong criticism of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who is “surprisingly broad powers, who are predominantly targeted right -wing actors,” the magazine states that “individual judges should avoid issuing monocratic decisions, especially in sensitive political issues.”

In The Economist’s article, the weekly magazine recalls that Brazilian democracy has been the target of “a hard blow” in the last 20 years and “much of the fault lies with its corrupt politicians.”

“All presidents since 2003 have been accused of violating the law,” says the article, mentioning the impeachment of (PT) in 2016, motivated, according to the magazine, “for defrauding public accounts.” In the same wake, the text states that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) has already been arrested by (the lawsuits were later annulled), and that Bolsonaro will soon be tried for involvement in an alleged coup plot that would keep him in power.

“But Brazilian democracy has another problem: judges with excessive power. And no figure personifies this better than Alexandre de Moraes, who occupies the position in the Supreme Court. Its history shows that the judiciary needs to be reduced.”

They are at the center of this discussion of the power of the minister the recent decisions made by Moraes in relation to platform X,.

Last year, Moraes ordered the blocking of access to the platform in Brazil, a decision that lasted more than a month, in addition to the freezing of Starlink bank accounts, a musk satellite company.

The minister also determined the removal of hundreds of pro-Bolsonaro accounts from the platform, in monocratic decisions, that is, who did not participate in the other Ministers of the Court.

“Mr. Moraes responds to criticism with authority. Pressured last year if the court should adopt a code of ethics, as the US Supreme Court did in 2023, Mr. Moraes said ‘there is no need.’

The magazine then argues that, after the conclusion of Bolsonaro’s trial, Congress resumes “the task of policing Mr. Moraes’s online freedom of expression.”

On Tuesday, the minister, in another monocratic decision, suspended the extradition process of a Bulgarian citizen who would have committed crimes in 2022.

In his decision, Moraes says that Spain has failed to comply with the “reciprocity requirement” in the extradition treaty it maintains with Brazil by denying the extradition of Bolsonarist blogger Oswaldo Eustáquio.

Moraes also asked Spain’s ambassador to explanations in Brazil and converted Vasilev’s preventive arrest into house arrest in Brazil, using an electronic anklet.

‘Growing questions’

The magazine attributes the powers and prestige conquered by the Supreme to the loss of legitimacy of the executive and the “impasses and scandals” in which Congress “was bogged down.”

Bolsonaro’s “dangerous and undemocratic behavior, both in office and after its voters’ dismissal, gave the court more justification to use its influence on the defense of the rule of law.” In the text, it is mentioned that the former president is accused of planning the death of Moraes, Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) before taking office.

“These are serious accusations, and the court must consider evidence and condemn, if applicable. The problem is that there are growing questions about the court’s own behavior, the quality of justice it offers and the adequacy of its punishments.”

In favor of the Court is, according to the magazine, the trial of, in 2012, when the court became “more willing to enforce its powers”.

The corruption scheme involving the bribe payment of the first governments from various parties in exchange for approval of government projects became known as monthly. His trial, carried out by the Supreme Plenary, that is, by the 11 ministers, was televised, placing the court under the spotlight.

The, which came shortly after the monthly, lasting a decade of investigations and arrests of corruption suspects involving Petrobras and the petist governments, is also mentioned in the text, as another case of contradiction of the Court.

“The court upheld the prison sentences for dozens of politicians and entrepreneurs considered to be guilty of corruption, but then changed his mind and annulled Lula’s convictions in 2021 for procedural reasons. In 2023, the president of the court boasted to have ‘defeated Bolsonaro’.”

The episode mentioned by the magazine involves the minister. Before assuming the presidency of the Supreme Court in 2023, Barroso gave a speech at the Congress of the National Students Union (UNE) in Brasilia. In his speech, the minister stated that he had fought “against dictatorship and against pockets.”

“We defeat censorship, we defeat torture, we defeat pockets to allow democracy and the free manifestation of all people,” the minister said.

In the wake of criticism of the Supreme Ministers, The Economist magazine recalled that “a single judge, José Antonio Dias Toffoli, annulled almost all evidence discovered during Lava Jato and opened a dubious investigation into international transparency, a Berlin -based anti -corruption group.”

And also mentioned Minister Gilmar Mendes, who “organizes a flashy meeting with the presence of the kind of influential people who usually have business on the agenda.”

The meeting mentioned is the Legal Forum that takes place in Lisbon annually, organized by the Brazilian Institute of Teaching, Development and Research (IDP), owned by Gilmar Mendes.

The private event receives guests from the high political-enterprise sphere and is uncommon in relation to its costs. It was in last year’s edition that Moraes stated that there was no need to create a Code of Ethics for the Supreme.

‘Triple threat’

The magazine ponders, however, that the Supreme Court is acting in legality.

“His powers come from the Brazilian Constitution, one of the longest in the world, and allows political parties, unions and many other organizations to present cases directly to the Supreme Court, rather than letting them go through lower courts.”

In practice, this means, according to the magazine, that the Supreme “creates laws on issues that would be decided by authorities elected in many other countries. A single judge may make unilateral decisions with serious repercussions, known as” monocratic decisions. “

The power of the Brazilian Supreme Court comes from interventions that take place, in turn, “because other Brazilian institutions do their work badly. Congress has long awaited a bill that would establish clear rules for freedom of online expression. Instead, it is spending its time by pondering legislation that would forgive those who attacked government buildings after Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat.”

Known as “”, the bill aimed at regulating digital platforms in Brazil was in the House of Representatives since 2020 and has never been to the vote in the plenary.

The Amnesty Law, a project that can give freedom to those involved in the alleged coup plot, including Bolsonaro, had his urgent request filed this week.

If approved, the urgent request should accelerate the project, causing it to be voted without having to go through all commissions normally foreseen.

Finally, the magazine warns that there is a “triple threat”.

“A danger is that the quality of decision making in the Federal Supreme Court deteriorates as its jurisdiction relentlessly expands. Secondly, the more the STF seeks to manage policy, the more public support: only 12% of people say that he is doing” good “or” optimal “work in 2022. Third, this unrestricted power increases the threat of the STF becoming an instrument of impulses. Iliberals that violate freedom, instead of supporting it. “

The survey mentioned by The Economist was conducted by PowerDate in December last year.

“Brazilians have lost faith in two of their three powers. It is essential to avoid a widespread crisis of confidence in the third,” concludes the English magazine.

The report was originally published

source

You may also like

Our Company

News USA and Northern BC: current events, analysis, and key topics of the day. Stay informed about the most important news and events in the region

Latest News

@2024 – All Right Reserved LNG in Northern BC