Despite being appointed to the (Supreme Federal Court), the president (PT) already has a favorite for the post, the current attorney general of the Union, .
If this happens, the Supreme Court will continue to have a majority of male ministers for another almost two decades, even if all the next vacancies are filled by women – which has proven unlikely. The projection considers the stay of ministers on the court until the mandatory retirement age, 75 years.
he would only reach this level in 2055, totaling almost three decades in office. In this scenario, in addition to him, five other ministers from the current composition would still be on the STF at least until 2043.
As a result, even in the remote hypothesis that women are chosen for the vacancies resulting from the next five planned retirements —those in (2028), (2029), (2023), (2033) and (2042)— the court would already have guaranteed another 17 and a half years of male majority, from November of this year until April 2043, when the mandatory retirement age would be reached.
That same year, a little later, in December, it would be his turn to leave the court, when he would turn 75 years old and almost 27 years old with the toga. Next would come ministers and , who could stay until 2047, and , with a deadline of 2050.
The other two, the senator (-MG) and the head of the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União), Bruno Dantas, are also men and are close to Messiah’s age.
Despite having told allies that he will nominate the head of , the president postponed the announcement until after his trip to Asia. The release was postponed after speaking with Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), who is and is president of the House responsible for examining and approving the name sent by Lula.
In its 134-year history, the Supreme Court has had only three women in its composition, none of them black. Currently, out of 11 members of the court, there is a single minister, Cármen Lúcia.
In 2023, even amid pressure from representatives of civil society, Lula nominated Flávio Dino for the vacancy resulting from the minister’s departure, reversing the already low number – even so, record – of two female ministers at the same time in the country’s main court.
In 2022, a survey on the diversity of constitutional courts around the world, carried out with the support of Ajufe (Association of Federal Judges of Brazil), showed that Brazil was behind its peers in this regard. In the analyzed period, from 2000 to 2021, .
Currently, a greater presence of women at the top of the Judiciary is already a reality in other countries. At the German Federal Constitutional Court, out of 16 judges, 8 are women. In the United States, of the 9 members of the Supreme Court, 4 are women.
“This non-indication is now a problem, because it will reverberate for many years. The UN [Organização das Nações Unidas] proposes that we have 50% women and 50% men in power and political decision-making bodies by 2030. We are a long way off”, says Luciana Ramos, professor of fundamental rights at FGV Direito SP.
“Women started voting in Brazil almost a century ago. We have an important evolution there, but they are still outside the decision-making centers and the centers of power.”
As provided for in the Constitution, the only requirements for choosing ministers are, in addition to Brazilian nationality and a minimum age of 35, having “remarkable legal knowledge and an unblemished reputation”.
Even though there are no rules regarding diversity, the limited participation of women in the body goes against, for example, commitments made by Brazil internationally.
These include the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which include ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership “at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.”
Brazil also adhered, four decades ago, to the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In 2024, the committee responsible for ensuring the application of these rights published a document recommending a series of measures to countries to ensure gender parity in decision-making spaces.
professor at the head of the public law department at the Faculty of Law of Ribeirão Preto at USP (University of São Paulo), argues that the concept of impartiality, historically more related to the conduct of the judge, has changed, under the understanding that different personal factors, such as gender, race, disability and social class, also shape the view of those who judge.
“Having plural courts in our composition, we increase the chance of impartial decisions, because you confront different perspectives, different perceptions”, she says.
Without a single black woman in the history of the Supreme Court, the Mulheres Negras Decidem movement is one of those leading the defense of this flag. In a publication addressed to the president, the movement states that “this choice would represent a concrete step towards racial and gender equity.”
The Parity in the Judiciary movement also published a letter to Lula on behalf of Brazilian judges. They argue that ignoring the nomination of a woman would be “wasting a historic opportunity to strengthen representation and reaffirm equality as a republican value.”
“History awaits. Justice demands it. Brazil deserves it”, they say at the end of the demonstration.
