Maria Marluce Caldas Bezerra and Carlos Augusto Pires Brandão assume this Thursday (4.set)
Those appointed by the President (PT) to the (Superior Court of Justice), Maria Marluce Caldas Bezerra and Carlos Augusto Pires Brandão, take office on Thursday (4.Set.2025). The new members of the Superior Court shall be part of the 3rd Section, responsible for the criminal cases.
The ceremony was attended by Vice-President (PSB), Senate President (Union-AP), the Chamber of Deputies (Republicans- PB) and the Vice-President of the Supreme Court (STF), Minister Luiz Edson Fachin.
Also attending the ministers of the STF Cristiano Zanin, Nunes Marques, Alexandre de Moraes, Luiz Fux and Cármen Lúcia.
The new court minister, Maria Marluce Caldas Bezerra, is aunt of the current mayor of Maceió, (PL-AL). As determined by Poder360, Lula’s allies expect that, with the nomination of the prosecutor, JHC, as he is known, approaches the petista in the 2026 elections. Marica Marluce was a prosecutor at MPAL (Public Prosecutor of Alagoas) and assumes the vacancy left by Minister Laurita Vaz, retired in October 2023.
In turn, Minister Carlos Augusto Pires Brandão assumes the vacancy for members of the federal judiciary. As Judge of the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region), Brandão was supported by Minister Nunes Marques of the Supreme Court (Supreme Court), who was also a member of the TRF-1.
The indication of the new ministers was approved by the Senate CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) on August 13, 2025.
Who is Maria Marluce
With a legal trajectory aimed at the area of Human Rights, Maria Marluce acted in the Court of Childhood and Adolescence and the Court of Criminal Executions, in Maceió. It has a postgraduate degree in Constitutional and Procedural Law.
The new STJ minister was the 1st prosecutor to act at the Popular Jury Court in the capital of Alagoas and the 3rd woman to be promoted to the position of Attorney at the Alagoas Public Prosecution Service.
In October 2024, it was the first name of the Triple list approved by the STJ’s full to take over the place of Minister Laurita Vaz, who left office in 2023. She and prosecutor Sammy Barbosa, from the Acre MP, received 17 votes in the first scrutiny. The Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Carlos Frederico Santos was the 3rd nominee, with 18 votes in the second scrutiny. Maria Marluce was only officially nominated by President Lula on July 10, 2025.
Who is Carlos Augusto Brandão
Nominated for the exclusive vacancy of federal judges, Carlos Augusto Brandão was the first name nominated by President Lula, on May 25. The new minister has been a native of Teresina (PI), has been working in the judiciary since 1997 and, since 2015, has been a federal judge at TRF-1-with scope in 11 states and the Federal District.
Carlos Brandão holds a master’s degree in law from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and a doctor of legal sciences from the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). He is also a professor at the Department of Legal Sciences at the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI).
COMPOSITION
The STJ is responsible for standardizing jurisprudence nationwide and has 33 members. In its composition, the Federal Constitution states that 1/3 is formed by members of the Courts of the States, 1/3 by members of the Federal Courts of the Federal Justice, and the last part, alternately, by lawyers and members of the Federal, State and Federal District.
The Court has sections, which, respectively, analyze cases of public law, in the 1st Section; Private Law in the 2nd Section; and Criminal Law in the 3rd Section. Cases involving criminal actions against governors and other authorities are analyzed by the Special Court, directed by the president of the STJ, Minister Herman Benjamin.
