OAB-SP (São Paulo State Bar Association) has a study committee in operation to propose a reform of the Brazilian judiciary. One of the axes to be analyzed is the performance of the Supreme Court (STF).
And it has approached “excessively” to the political class. This Tuesday (1st), the president of the institution, Leonardo Sica, told the CNN that one of the proposals studied is precisely the reduction of the STF’s criminal competence.
“The Federal Supreme Court has become a large criminal court. Much of its time spending criminal judgments. Thus, it no longer consists of constitutional matters for the matter of time and appeals. He judges many politicians, and those who judge many politicians are very close, overcoming the political class. We think we have to have an adjustment in this rule,” he said.
The OAB argues that the main role of the Supreme is to defend the Constitution and that a reform is needed to redeem this purpose, avoiding the court’s overload with political and criminal issues.
Leonardo Sica cited as an example the recent judicialization of the crisis between executive and legislature about increasing the. After the National Congress overturned the government decree that expanded the tax, the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) announced that it would activate the Supreme Court to revoke the decision of Parliament.
“It’s not the place to be discussed. This is bad for the court. This politicizes the court,” said the president of the OAB.
Another proposal that should be discussed in the Commission is the excess of virtual judgments made by the Court. According to Sica, this reduces the possibilities of lawyers to support oral and discuss cases properly.
“In our view, it is poorly grabbing technology. They are using technology to do excessive virtual judgments, to reduce possibilities for oral lawyer support. […] We had a huge investment in pandemic technology here, and we don’t have an efficiency gain, so something has to be discussed, ”he criticized.
The group must also discuss a possible term of office for Supreme Ministers and privileged forum situations, as well as elaborating a code of conduct for magistrates.
Commission
The commission is composed of former STF ministers, former Justice Ministers and academic jurists. According to the OAB-SP, the proposals for reforms will be sent to Congress and the judiciary in 2026.
The axes for discussion are: slowness, integrity, access to justice, stability and the Federal Supreme Court.
According to Sica, in addition to defining the axes, the group has already succeeded in putting the theme of judiciary reform in the public debate. The president of OAB-SP also stressed that there was great adherence to discussions by representatives of civil society.
Sica said he sees the Supreme Ministers open to the discussion and is necessary for every institution.
“We are very confident that the ministers are open to the discussion. Also because it will be a discussion in a cordial, moderate tone, far from the extremes,” he told CNN.
Commission members
The commission has nine members: the retired ministers of STF Ellen Gracie and Cezar Peluso; Former Justice Ministers Miguel Reale Jr. (Fernando Henrique Cardoso government) and José Eduardo Cardozo (Dilma Rousseff Management); jurists Alessandra Benedito, Maria Tereza Sadek and Oscar Vilhena; and former presidents of the national OAB, Cezar Britto, and São Paulo sectional, Patricia Vanzolini.
There is no fixed frequency of meetings, according to the entity, but the expectation is that the group will meet monthly, depending on the themes and needs of the members.
After discussing the changes and listening to collaborations from the sectors of the company, the Commission must elaborate proposals that will be divided into a draft reform.
The text will be taken for debate in the National Congress in early 2026 and presented to the judiciary.
