The president of the STM (Superior Military Court), minister Maria Elizabeth Rocha, stated this Wednesday (8) that the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) must establish the understanding that cases of femicide involving military personnel must be judged by ordinary courts, and not by military courts.
“I understand that the Superior Court of Justice will probably establish the jurisdiction of the common justice system to judge crimes of feminicide. We would only be able to judge crimes against life when they were culpable, when they were committed through negligence, imprudence and lack of interest”, said the President of the Court.
Rocha highlighted that feminicide is an intentional crime, that is, one in which there is the intention to kill. According to the minister, intentional crimes against life are the responsibility of the jury court, as established in article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
According to the judge, the topic is under debate due to the murder of Corporal Maria de Lourdes Freire Matos. The soldier by then soldier Kelvin Barros da Silva in an Army barracks in the Federal District, in December 2025. Both were from the 1st Guards Cavalry Regiment.
This afternoon, the STJ will judge the conflict of jurisdiction between the Military Justice and the TJDFT (Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories) to define which should judge the complaint against Kelvin.
This was not the only femicide involving military personnel in the last six months. In March, Lieutenant Colonel Geraldo Rosa Neto and his wife, soldier Gisele Alves Santana, in São Paulo. In this case, the final decision of an analysis by the TJM-SP (São Paulo Military Court of Justice).
The president of the STM explains that both the Federal and State Military Justice could form juries to judge cases of this type, but that this is rarely done and that, for this reason, the competence to judge crimes of this type should continue with the common Justice.
“Since we do not form juries, we do not call juries — and neither does the State Military Court —, my interpretation and analysis is simple: the jurisdiction lies with the common courts so that the jury can be called,” he declared.
The speech was given to journalists during the 218th anniversary of the STM. For the celebration, a solemn ceremony was held at the Army Club, in Brasília.
During the event, Rocha also defended the modernization of the Military Criminal Procedure Code, which is being processed in the National Congress. According to the judge, the code in force today dates back to 1969.
One of the STM president’s demands is the unification of the powers of the Military Justice, which currently judges military crimes, but not disciplinary infractions.
“It is essential that the Justice system, which has the expertise and knowledge to judge crimes, also judges infractions, so that there is no fragmentation in the understanding of conduct,” stated Rocha.
