The minister, president of the (Superior Electoral Court), stated this Monday (2), that she must present a recommendation on forms of ethical conduct to the electoral judiciary.
According to her, the proposal will be presented at the meeting of presidents of the TREs (Regional Electoral Courts), next Tuesday (10).
In total, the minister listed ten different recommendations, including that the electoral magistrate be restrained in his public and private statements about the electoral process. It also states that the appearance of judges at a public or private event, during the election year, in which there is fraternization with candidates or those interested in the campaign, generates a conflict of interests.
Earlier, this Monday, it had been announced by the president of the (Supreme Federal Court), as .
Among the points proposed for the Electoral Court are the publicity of hearings between parties and lawyers, in addition to the impossibility of magistrates receiving gifts that cast doubt on the impartiality of their decisions.
The president of the TSE also added that lawyers who make up the TSE must not participate in acts or processes in which the law firms they are part of act. This is because the constitutional fifth rule reserves part of the court vacancies for members of the legal profession and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as a result, lawyers work temporarily — for 2-year terms — in the TREs and the TSE.
The list of items in the recommendations also states that “signals favorable or contrary to candidates, political parties or ideologies” are not admissible and that statements “about the political choice” of the judges are unacceptable.
Cármen Lúcia defended, in the TSE session, the transparency of the conduct of authorities and the commitment to independent judgments of the interests of the parties. He also said that distrust in state bodies and agents is a factor of instability and that ethical deviations must be dealt with rigorously.
“It is essential that the behavior of each magistrate is legitimate, trustworthy and transparent. Mystery is incompatible with the Republic,” he said.
In a speech at the opening of the judicial year and, in the middle of , Fachin announced the minister for the rapporteur of the Supreme Court’s code of conduct. The measure, which he defends and has been in recent months, faces resistance from some magistrates.
Read the full recommendations for electoral judges announced by Minister Cármen Lúcia.
- The publicity of hearings with parties and their lawyers, candidates, political parties or direct or indirect interested parties is guaranteed, publishing agendas for their holding, whether they occur inside or outside the institutional environment.
- Whether a magistrate is restrained in his interventions and public demonstrations or in private professional agendas on matters relating to the electoral process, whether or not the topic is subject to his jurisdiction.
- The appearance of a member of the judiciary at a public or private event, in which candidates, their representatives, members or direct or indirect stakeholders in the electoral campaign come together during this election year, generates a conflict of interests, which compromises the integrity of judicial action.
- Demonstrations in any medium, including electronic and digital media, about the personal political choice of the magistrate or magistrate are unacceptable, as they raise doubts about the impartiality of the decision to be taken in the exercise of jurisdiction.
- Do not, magistrates, receive gifts or favors that cast doubt on your impartiality when deciding.
- Ethically or legally, signals favorable or contrary to candidates, political parties or ideologies are not permissible, which may lead to conclusions or conclusions regarding favoritism or persecution in trials.
- Lawyers who make up the electoral judicature must remain away from participating in acts or proceedings in which the law firms they are part of are represented.
- The judge must not engage in non-judicial activities that affect the fulfillment of their functional duties. The judicial function is personal, non-transferable and irreplaceable by the magistrate.
- It is the competent authority’s responsibility to make judicial and administrative acts public, preventing misinterpretations or hasty or inadequate disclosure relating to the electoral process, especially by people outside the process.
- The transparency of the actions of the Electoral Justice bodies, their magistrates and their magistrates is a republican imposition. Only with the broad publicity of what happens in the electoral process, in the actions of magistrates and employees of the Electoral Court, will the right of voters to secure information based on facts be guaranteed and then the choice of each voter in the electoral process will be free and democracy will have been protected.
