Ministers of the (Supreme Federal Court) say they are betting on a broad confirmation of the same after the minister’s decisions until a definition on the topic by the court’s plenary.
Some members of the court also expressed discomfort with the path chosen by their colleague to deal with the matter.
Since Saturday (9), the minister has been giving decisions in the cases of those convicted by suspending the application of the reduction of sentences in each of them. So far, they have been. However, he has not yet given decisions on the actions that question the Dosimetry Law itself.
Therefore, the law was not suspended in general. The suspensions determined by Moraes must therefore be valid until the topic is debated and judged by the collegiate. The was stated to the Sheet by three ministers and three advisors this Sunday (10).
The legislation approved by the may reduce the sentences of the former president () and others and for the coup acts of January 8, 2023.
Parliamentarians who had contact with STF ministers over the weekend report that Moraes should not delay in sending the actions that question the law, for which he is also rapporteur, to the plenary for deliberation.
Still according to these reports, the STF’s tendency should be to validate the Dosimetry Law even for and with the majority of congressmen. The bill was approved by a large majority in December, ended up being vetoed by (PT) and, again, most parliamentarians were in favor of the law,
Legislative interlocutors Moraes justified his decision as necessary to seek legal certainty, that is, to not run the risk of prisoners from January 8 being released based on a law that, later on, would be considered unconstitutional.
The actions questioning the constitutionality of the law, filed by the federation -Rede and the ABI (Brazilian Press Association), were distributed on Friday night (8), and Moraes himself was selected to lead their process. Therefore, in addition to reporting the cases related to the coup plot, the minister will also lead actions to reduce sentences for crimes related to the cases.
Therefore, it will be up to Moraes to dictate the pace of progress of these actions, including the moment in which they will go to the plenary for judgment. So far, he has only asked for information from the parties, the Presidency and Congress, on the matter, as is customary.
Through them, he could grant an injunction to temporarily suspend the law in general. But this would, according to the court’s internal rules, necessarily lead to the decision being sent to a plenary referendum.
For now, the minister only issued orders in specific cases, which do not require automatic peer evaluation.
“The supervening filing of a direct action of unconstitutionality and, consequently, the pending trial in concentrated control of constitutionality, constitutes a new and relevant procedural fact, which could influence the judgment of the requests made by the defense, recommending the suspension of the application of the law, for legal certainty”, he said.
On the Planalto Palace side, Lula’s assistants assess that the conclusion of the imbroglio is still open, given the internal division regarding the topic and the current context of the Supreme Court. Therefore, the possibility of the court making changes to the text would not be ruled out.
Some of the ministers disagree with the Dosimetry PL because they understand that the measure means an incentive for new undemocratic acts, but even among these magistrates there is a consensus that the definition of penalties is a prerogative of Congress.
One of the points that may be questioned by judges, according to one of these interlocutors, is the method of “slicing” the veto. The president of , (-AP), removed parts of Lula’s veto before the vote, on the grounds that these parts .
Another assessment by Planalto was that Moraes’ decision was the right one. This prevents anyone from benefiting unduly from the law, before the STF’s final decision.
When contacted by the report, the rapporteur of the Dosimetry PL in the Chamber, deputy (Solidariedade-SP), stated that he was calm that “the full Supreme Court will say that the law is constitutional”. “We are going to have an important victory,” he added.
Throughout the text’s progress in Congress, Paulinho, who is close to Moraes, stated on several occasions that the measure was created listening to opinions from the benches and also from STF ministers, precisely to prevent it from ending up blocked in court.
While the text was debated in Congress, the resistance of Supreme Court ministers in relation to the project fell as it was calibrated — the total amnesty requested by Bolsonaro supporters was replaced by a reduction in sentences.
What facilitated the acceptance of the project was the understanding of a wing of the court that the effects of the proposal are not automatic for all defendants, including Bolsonaro, but assessed on a case-by-case basis, at the rapporteur’s discretion.
Totally rejected by the magistrates and even by the center, the broad amnesty had no support to advance in the Legislature. Ministers and parliamentarians then established one that was approved in Congress.
Moraes even said in December, in a session of the First Panel, that “mitigating the sentences would send a message to society that Brazil tolerates or “.
However, he signaled to a person close to him that, if this was Congress’s option, it was only up to him to apply the changes at the request of the defenses, as legal changes that are more beneficial to the defendants must necessarily be retroactive.
Moraes was one of the STF ministers to maintain a dialogue channel with parliamentarians about the contours of the bill, even giving concrete suggestions for drafting the text.
Advisors and assistants to ministers assess that the validity of the Dosimetry Law can help to cool tensions, while preserving the power of the STF in executing sentences.
