Retired and active Justice magistrates received, throughout 2025, R$ 1 billion only in amounts above the constitutional ceiling, which is R$ 46.3 thousand. A judge in the category even earned R$1.7 million in a single month, in December.
Labor magistrates were represented in the (Supreme Federal Court) judgment on super salaries on Wednesday (25) by retired judge Cláudia Márcia de Carvalho Soares, president of ABMT (Brazilian Association of Labor Magistrates). At the time, she rejected the use of the term penduricalhos. He also stated that he needs to pay for his own coffee and gasoline to work.
Cláudia also received salaries above the ceiling, with a net salary that reached R$128 thousand last December. When contacted, ABMT did not respond to the report’s questions until the publication of this text.
In a statement, the (National Council of Justice) stated that the Judiciary is independent and the courts manage their respective budgets in the states and in the Union. The council also stated that salaries are set by each court and the CNJ exercises subsequent control and examines their possible illegality.
During the trial at the STF on Wednesday, Cláudia defended the resources that increase the judges’ salaries, saying that they are compensation funds provided for in state laws in most cases.
“I give an extremely negative connotation to the expression penduricalho. What we have are payments based on state legislation or CNJ resolution. The first-degree judge doesn’t have a car, he pays for fuel out of his own pocket, he doesn’t have a functional apartment, health plan, cafeteria, water and coffee. The judge also has almost nothing, except a car. He barely has a snack”, said Cláudia in court.
Labor Judges receive compensation payments, which are not subject to Income Tax or the constitutional ceiling, in addition to retroactive payments that inflate their paychecks. The judge who received the highest amount last year, for example, earned R$1.7 million in occasional rights, which led to a high salary.
In the plenary, some of the representatives of careers benefiting from compensation funds spoke in favor of maintaining their salaries. Among them, there were representatives of judges, members of and careers of the (Advocacy General of the Union).
The president of the STF, , suspended this Thursday (26) the judgment on the salary caps of public servants. Meanwhile, the two preliminary (provisional) decisions that blocked the payment of funds remain in force.
Fachin informed that the session on the subject will resume on March 25, along with other processes that deal with the same topic.
The minister determined on Monday (23) that compensation funds can only be paid to the Judiciary and the Public Ministry when they are expressly provided for in a law approved by the National Congress. The decision bars most of the penduricalhos, which are usually determined by administrative action and state law. But the general scope of the restriction is still being assessed by experts.
The injunction was granted in a direct action of unconstitutionality proposed by the Attorney General’s Office and will be submitted to the STF plenary for a vote. This Thursday, the minister will pay retroactive payments already foreseen for the Judiciary and the Public Ministry.
The determination is in line with that which suspended suspensions in the three Powers at the beginning of the month, establishing that only compensation funds expressly provided for by law can remain outside the ceiling of the respective careers.
In the preliminary injunction, Gilmar determined that, after the end of the established deadlines, members of the Judiciary and the Public Ministry will only be able to receive the funds provided for in national law and, in necessary cases, regulated by a joint act of the CNJ and the CNMP (National Council of the Public Ministry).
