The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Luiz Fux will take over the Second Panel of the Court. He should lead the collegiate in place of minister Gilmar Mendes in August, when the Judiciary returns from recess, and will inherit the agenda marked by the Master case.
The exchange takes place in a moment of tension involving investigations into the bank. Gilmar has criticized the conduct of the investigation by the rapporteur of Operation Compliance Zero, minister André Mendonça, comparing methods adopted in the investigation to “sad reminiscences” of Operation Lava Jato and questioning, for example, the basis of preventive arrests in the case.
On the 16th, the dean suddenly included on the agenda the resumption of the trial on the release of Henrique and Felipe Vorcarofather and cousin of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Master. Mendonça reacted by removing the confidentiality of two investigations targeting those involved in the bank’s billion-dollar corruption and fraud schemes.
The rapporteur justified that the information gathered by the Federal Police (PF) illustrated possible crimes and deserved to be exposed so that people could understand what was at stake in the trial regarding the preventive detention of the banker’s father. The following week, he reestablished the secrecy of justice to preserve the investigation in light of the new measures underway.
Divergence
The session in which the Second Panel voted on the preventive detention of Henrique and Felipe was marked by disagreement between the ministers Gilmar, who had requested a review of the process in May, defended the relaxation of the precautionary measures, with a home stay for Henrique and the release of Felipe. He was defeated by the rest of the magistrates, who decided to keep the defendants in prison. The result of the vote was 3 to 1.
At the time, he argued that the Preventive detention of defendants can serve as a way of pressuring them to sign a plea bargain agreement and compared the measure to Lava Jato actions. “When an agreement is concluded in an environment of pressure, there is a complete erosion of voluntariness, which must necessarily guide any collaboration,” he said.
Mendonça recalled the evidence of violent conduct by a group that acted at the behest of Daniel Vorcaro: “We are not here to judge Lava-Jato”, he said, stating that the case is “more than a white-collar crime” and has “mafia contours”.
With Fux as president of the Second Panel, the The expectation is that the agenda will be conducted in a way that is more aligned with the case report. It is up to the class president to define the trial agenda and conduct the collegiate sessions, deciding when the cases will be brought to trial, including after the return of review requests.
The change follows the rotation system provided for in the STF’s Internal Regulations. According to the Court’s rules, each Panel is presided over by one of its five members for one year, with no possibility of reappointment until all ministers have occupied the position. The choice follows the criterion of seniority among those who have not yet held the role.
Fux joined the Second Class in October 2025. He requested a transfer from the First Class with the vacancy open after the retirement of Luís Roberto Barroso.
