Our public institutions, especially the Brazilian Judiciary, have an appointment with transparency. The topic doesn’t leave the newspapers or people’s mouths. There is no longer any way to go off on tangents. The sooner you address the issue, the less stressful it will be. And transparency is the first line of defense for an institution and its members against anti-democratic attacks.
At the beginning of the year, , now debated in the STF. The first one pointed out, precisely, is the obligation to declare and disclose the economic and financial relations of all ministers.
Eight days after this column, the Federal Police launched a search and seizure operation against four Federal Revenue servants, investigated for leaking data from STF ministers. Evidently, illegal leaks must be investigated and punished. But there is a previous question: why is much of this information not public by rule?
This is already a pacified point in several countries that Brazil sees as models. In the United States, , including for foreigners. In Portugal, the Constitutional Court justified preventing public access to declarations of income and assets. Currently, statements from members of the court, Parliament, Public Ministry and the Portuguese government are available to any citizen. The same occurs on , whose LobbyChile platform inspired the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) to publish commitments from authorities.
Furthermore, they consolidate and disseminate this information to any citizen through registration, which, although not ideal in terms of accessibility, is often superior to the total opacity of Brazilian institutions.
A clear initiative led by the STF in this direction could radiate a similar pattern throughout the Judiciary and pressure other Powers to follow the same path. We have already written in this column that Executive ministers must also publish their asset declarations. The demand is republican, not selective.
The greater the power attributed to a public agent, the smaller their sphere of privacy must be. Heads of Power and ministers of higher courts exercise significant power in our Republic, and it is no mere chance or coincidence that they are flattered by interest groups of all kinds. This is not about disclosing addresses or sensitive data, but about making public financial interests that could generate conflicts.
As long as ministers and other relevant authorities insist on the opacity of their assets and economic relations, any and all leaks will inevitably generate speculation, rumors and even disinformation. Transparency, after all, really is the best disinfectant.
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