The deputy attorney general of the Republic, Elizeta Ramos, stated that the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Flávio Dino interfered in the powers of the National Congress by putting an end to compulsory retirement as a punishment for magistrates who commit functional deviations. The statement appears in an appeal, presented at the end of March, which was under judicial secrecy, and has now been removed from secrecy.
“Such hermeneutical construction removes the role of the complementary legislator from defining the sanctions applicable to the judiciary, shifting the political choice regarding which conducts will, or will not, allow the loss of office to judicial interpretation: precisely what the reserve of law aims to prevent,” he stated.
Dino ordered in his order that the compulsory retirement be replaced by the dismissal of the offending judge. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) assessed, however, that the minister’s decision obliges the National Council of Justice (CNJ) to apply sanctions against judges and judges without establishing a “clear and specific” legal rule on the subject, “which, as seen, is incompatible with the current constitutional order, due to the flagrant offense to the principles of legality and legal security”.
Ramos asked that Dino’s decision be submitted to the STF plenary instead of the First Panel because there is a “relevant argument of unconstitutionality that has not yet been decided”. She also requested that the effects of the decision be suspended until the appeal is judged. The deputy attorney maintained that the order may have been based on “laudable intentions”, but that it could represent a risk to the country’s democracy.
“Concentrating in the STF the original decision on the termination of the functional relationship of judges and members of the MP, without express constitutional provision, no matter how laudable the intentions that inspire such concentration, has the effect of emptying the essential core of the guarantee of lifetime, exposing the Judiciary and the MP to vulnerability in the face of concentrated political pressure – precisely what Levitsky and Ziblatt identify as signs of the democratic erosion of a country”, he stated.
After receiving the appeal, Dino’s office ordered the parties to be summoned to demonstrate within 15 days. Compulsory retirement is criticized for being a mild punishment: the magistrate was removed from office, but continued to receive salaries proportional to the length of service. For Dino, in addition to this criticism, the sanction no longer has legal support.
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