Voting was carried out in the Court’s virtual plenary and ended with a score of 10 votes to 0; law vetoed the reservation of vacancies for ethnic minority groups
Unanimously, the plenary decided on Friday (April 17, 2026) to overturn the ban that prohibited the reservation of quotas for minority ethnic groups for the admission of students to educational institutions that receive public funds from the State.
The vote was taken in the virtual plenary of the Court and ended with a score of 10 votes to 0.
The plenary judged actions filed by Psol, PT, PC do B and the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association to consider law 19,722 of 2026, approved by the Legislative Assembly and sanctioned by the governor (PL-SC), unconstitutional.
The overturned rule allowed the reservation of places only for people with disabilities, students from public schools or based on exclusively economic criteria.
The trial on April 10, when the rapporteur, Minister Gilmar Mendes, declared that the Court had already recognized the constitutionality of affirmative actions.
“There is no doubt about the constitutionality, in abstract, of affirmative actions based on ethnic-racial criteria”he stated.
Gilmar Mendes’ vote was followed by ministers Flávio Dino, Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli, Cristiano Zanin, Edson Fachin and Cármen Lúcia.
The last 3 votes were given on Friday (17th April) by ministers Luiz Fux, Nunes Marques and André Mendonça.
CENSUS
Data from the Higher Education Census show that 49% of students who entered through reserved places at federal universities completed their degree.
This text was originally published by Agência Brasil, on April 17, 2026. The content is free for republication, citing the source, and was adapted to the standard of Poder360.
