Minister accompanied rapporteur Gilmar Mendes; trial that analyzes PGR appeal runs until December 19
Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), accompanied rapporteur Gilmar Mendes and voted to extend the forum rules by function prerogative to authorities with lifetime positions.
The vote is part of a virtual plenary trial on an appeal presented by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office), which seeks to define the jurisdiction of the special forum. Here is Gilmar’s vote (PDF – 164 kB).
The STF had already had a majority to expand the scope of the forum, but, with the PGR’s appeal, the Court reopened the vote so that the ministers could evaluate the body’s arguments. The virtual plenary opened on Friday (Dec 12, 2025) and continues until December 19. Moraes was the 2nd minister to register a vote.
Since 2018, the STF had restricted the forum by function prerogative, establishing that investigations and criminal actions would only remain in the Court when crimes were committed during the exercise of the mandate.
In March 2025, however, the Court adopted a new thesis: it decided that the forum must be maintained even after the end of the mandate, as long as the crimes were committed in the exercise of public office. Thus, criminal actions and investigations continue at the STF even after the authority leaves office.
The PGR filed a motion for clarification in August 2025, arguing that the STF should only maintain cases that were in the final stages of processing. According to the body, the unrestricted application of the thesis may cause delays and procedural instability.
For the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, the Court must also establish transition rules to avoid the mass sending of cases to other courts. “From this perspective, criminal prosecutions that had already concluded their investigation, with the opening of the deadline for the presentation of final allegations, should remain under the jurisdiction of the bodies that had been granting them regular progress, thus ensuring an outcome compatible with the guarantees of due legal process.”, he declared.
Currently, the forum by function prerogative applies, among others, to the president of the Republic, vice-president, deputies, senators, ministers of State, members of higher courts, attorney general of the Republic and commanders of the Armed Forces.
In his vote, Gilmar stated that the forum also covers judges, prosecutors, high-ranking military personnel, diplomats and ministers of audit courts. According to the rapporteur, “the grounds used by the Court apply to any agent holding jurisdiction by function prerogative, and not just to those holding an elective mandate”.
Gilmar also rejected the PGR’s argument about sending cases that are not in the final stage. For him, keeping these actions in the STF “It is the best way to preserve freedom of action in the exercise of public functions”even after retirement or end of term.
SPECIFIC CASES
The PGR appealed in 2 cases analyzed by the STF. One of them involves habeas corpus presented by the senator (Podemos-PA), who claimed to have successively occupied positions with jurisdiction. The STF decided that the Court can judge an action against the congressman for alleged “rachadinha” practice when he was still a federal deputy.
The other case refers to an investigation against the former senator (MDB-ES), investigated on suspicion of passive corruption, bid fraud, money laundering and criminal organization, in investigations linked to Codesa (Companhia de Docas do Espírito Santo). Rose left the Senate in 2023 and, initially, the case had been sent to State Court. She appealed to the STF and asked for the case to be closed in Court.
