This Monday, the 4th, the Novo party filed a disciplinary complaint with the National Council of Justice (CNJ) against the president of the Superior Labor Court (TST), minister Luiz Phillipe Vieira de Mello. The judge was at the center of controversy after speaking of “red” and “blue” judges in the Labor Court. The statement was interpreted as a reference to political polarization in the country.
The statements were made by Mello Filho during the 22nd National Congress of Labor Justice Magistrates (Conamat), held between April 29 and May 2, 2026, in Brasília.
In the piece sent to the National Justice Inspectorate, under the responsibility of minister Mauro Campbell Marques, Novo justifies that the minister had adopted “a stance incompatible with the judiciary” by stating, in a speech, that “we, reds, have a case”, by contrasting different views within the Judiciary.
After the negative repercussion, the judge himself stated that the statement was a response to TST minister Ives Gandra Martins Filho, who had used the classification “blues and reds” in a lecture to describe different currents in the Court, associated with more “liberal” or “interventionist” views and “legalist” or “activist” stances.
“He classified us into red and blue. I’m saying: if red is defending Labor Law and what the Constitution attributes to us as competence, then so be I”, said the minister in an interview with Estadão. The party’s representation does not mention the case of the 14 TST ministers who taught lawyers on how to work in court.
In addition to the statement, another point highlighted in Novo’s representation is the minister’s criticism of what he called “savage and unbridled capitalism”, in addition to his defense of changes in labor relations, such as the end of the 6×1 scale. Novo argues that this type of public positioning would reinforce the perception of ideological alignment.
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According to the party, there was a violation of the principles set out in the Constitution, the Organic Law of the Judiciary (Loman) and the Code of Ethics of the Judiciary, especially with regard to neutrality and the prohibition of political-partisan activities.
For the president of Novo, Eduardo Ribeiro, the initiative seeks to preserve the credibility of the Judiciary. “When a judge, especially in the highest role of a court, adopts a speech with an ideological bias, he compromises society’s trust in the impartiality of Justice. What we are defending is strict compliance with the rules that guarantee the neutrality of the Judiciary”, he stated.
The party asks the CNJ to admit the complaint, initiate disciplinary proceedings and, in the end, apply the appropriate sanctions if irregularities are confirmed.
As shown by the EstadãoMello Filho and 21 ministers of the Court received salaries in March above R$100,000. Another three had salaries ranging from R$52 thousand to R$90 thousand.
