For 79% of Brazilians, it is unacceptable for ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court) to judge cases involving clients of the magistrates’ relatives, even if the defense is not being exercised by the relatives themselves.
The opinion was recorded in a survey released this Wednesday (11). Another 16% see this possibility as acceptable, 3% were unable to respond and 1% said they neither agreed nor disagreed.
This is one of the themes that permeate the STF’s proposals and which were the subject of questions from the institute. Datafolha points out that the majority of the population also condemns other conduct of court judges who are involved in this debate.
For 78%, it is unacceptable for STF ministers to be partners in companies; 76% reject the possibility of receiving payments for lectures organized by private institutions; 66% do not consider it acceptable for magistrates to be allowed to accept invitations from interested parties in legal actions being processed in court; and 55% disagree with the possibility of them giving interviews and opinions on topics they are judging.
The survey interviewed 2,004 people aged 16 and over from March 3 to 5 in 137 municipalities. The sample’s margin of error is 2 percentage points, plus or minus, within the 95% confidence level. The survey is registered with the TSE (Superior Electoral Court): BR – 03715/2026.
In relation to the judgment of cases involving clients of the magistrates’ relatives, the STF annulled in August 2023 an excerpt from the Code of Civil Procedure that, by 7 votes to 4. Among the ministers who voted to overturn the rule were and , the main targets of ethical questions in the context of the Master case.
The scandal involving the liquidation of Daniel Vorcaro’s bank and the exposure of the web of relationships that the former banker maintained made the president of the court, , resume conversations about the creation of a code of ethics.
The office of Moraes’ wife, Viviane Barci, signed a service provision agreement with Banco Master that could yield up to R$129 million, according to a publication in the newspaper O Globo.
Toffoli had been rapporteur for the investigation into Master before leaving the rapporteurship at request, after the Federal Police identified that funds linked to the bank had purchased a stake in a company owned by his family in a luxury resort. Years earlier, now free from the restriction lifted in 2023, the minister suspended a R$10.3 billion fine from J&F — whose group had hired the minister’s then wife for a business dispute.
Fachin appointed minister Cármen Lúcia as rapporteur on the topic of the code of conduct at the opening of the judicial year, on February 2, but signaled to colleagues that the debate should wait until after the elections.
The proposal prepared by the São Paulo section of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB-SP), for example, reestablishes the veto on acting in cases involving clients of relatives of magistrates.
The rule overturned in 2023 prevented a judge from participating in proceedings in which one of the parties was a client of the law firm of their spouse or relative up to the third degree. The STF considered the device unconstitutional because it offended the principle of proportionality.
