Former minister Luiz Roberto Barroso and ministers Edson Fachin, Gilmar Mendes, André Mendonça and Dias Toffoli were, in that order, those who granted the most habeas corpus at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in 2025. The rate of requests accepted by this group of judges varied between 10% and 3.64% of cases.
The data was collected by lawyer David Metzker, who compiles all favorable decisions in HCs at the STF and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). Proportionally, the person who granted the most HCs was Barroso, with eight favorable decisions in 80 requests — he retired in October and had a smaller volume of cases due to being president of the Court. In total numbers, the position went to the current president, Edson Fachin (143 out of 1,479, or 9.67%).
Excluding Barroso, the four ministers with the most favorable decisions are or were from the Second Panel, with a guarantor tradition. Next, Alexandre de Moraes, who is part of the First Class, and Nunes Marques, also from the Second, appear. Then come the members of the First Class, in the following order: Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia, Luiz Fux and Flávio Dino. Dino only granted 1.13% of the HCs he analyzed (23 out of 2,044). Last year, its first in the STF, the rate had been 0.28% (six out of 2,170).
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In October, Fachin authorized the transfer of Fux to the Second Class, in the vacancy opened by Barroso’s retirement. The First Panel is operating with four members, until a new member of the STF is approved by the Senate.
The order of ministers on the HC grant list is almost the same as last year, with only a reversal of positions between Zanin and Cármen.
As of December 18, ministers had granted 675 HCs, out of 19,300 requests analyzed (3.48% of the total). The most frequent crimes in habeas corpus granted were drug trafficking and theft. In third place, military crimes appear, with significant growth compared to the previous year.
Decision parameter
Of the total HCs granted, 228 involved trafficking. Metzker explains that most of these decisions are to revoke preventive detention, due to the small amount of drugs seized.
“Many people are arrested for trafficking, and the STF releases them when they verify that the person was kept in prison even with a small amount of seizure.”
Last month, for example, the Court granted freedom to a man sentenced to five years in prison, in a semi-open regime, after being arrested with 2.2g of cocaine and 1.8g of crack.
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The second most frequent crime is theft (102 decisions), mainly for cases of insignificance. In October, for example, Minister Cristiano Zanin authorized the regime open to a person sentenced to ten months in prison, for theft of goods worth R$250, despite him being a “multi-repeat offender”.
Military crimes are third on the list, with 50 cases, ten times more than in 2024. According to Metzer, the increase occurred because the STF determined that it is also possible to conclude Criminal Non-Prosecution Agreements (ANPP) in this type of crime.
“The ANPP is provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure. There was doubt as to whether it would also apply to military crimes. And the STF established an understanding that it also applies.”
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Minister Luiz Fux determined, in May, that the Superior Military Court (STM) analyze the possibility of ANPP for someone accused of embezzlement, based on the Military Penal Code.
