Applying a rigorous spending cut in the Executive, the interim governor of , , authorized, in command of the Judiciary of Rio de Janeiro, an explosion in daily expenses for travel by magistrates and civil servants.
Payment for accommodation, transportation and food on official missions, courses and seminars rose from R$1.6 million in 2024 to R$9.5 million last year, when Couto’s term at the Court of Justice began. The jump is due to the increase in authorization for trips abroad, some with dozens of judges simultaneously.
Court expenses for the president of Alerj (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro), (PL), who claims the post of governor due to his position being ahead of the president of TJ-RJ in the line of succession provided for in the state Constitution. The magistrate is in charge of the Guanabara Palace by decision of the (Supreme Federal Court).
Ruas created a special commission for the three Powers to propose spending cuts. The measure was a response to those, which already exceed 3 thousand, made by Couto in the Executive.
In a note, the TJ-RJ stated that the increase in daily rates is due to “a change in the administration’s vision”, aiming to “invest in technical improvement, in the exchange of knowledge, as well as fundamental technological development in the management of the institution”. The court also declared that the expenses are covered “by the court’s own revenue”, from the Court of Justice Fund, whose cash is supplied by the collection of fees for judicial services.
The court also stated that it saw no contradiction between the increase and the cuts promoted by the Executive. “Payment is made with total transparency and accountability, using TJ-RJ’s own resources for this purpose and following previously established objective criteria.”
The increase in daily expenses between 2024 and 2025 occurred in all three Powers and in the Public Ministry. Altogether, R$35 million from state coffers were used for these expenses last year, compared to R$25.7 million the previous year.
The explosion in TJ-RJ, however, clashed with the other Powers. The value was multiplied by six and now represents 18% of daily expenses across the entire state budget — between 2022 and 2024, this percentage varied between 4% and 5%. Until April this year, R$3.2 million had been spent, 21.5% of the total amount in the state.
Between 2022 and 2024, the only international trip made annually was by a group of magistrates and criminal servants to the Annual International Conference of Chiefs of Police, always in the United States. The delegation never exceeded ten members. In 2023, it was also authorized to send a judge and an employee to a conference on information technology, also in the USA.
Since January 2025, there have been 24 seminars, conferences and courses in the United States and in different European countries. Some of the delegations had dozens of judges and judges.
The largest of them was to Milan, where 40 judges, 8 judges and 2 civil servants went, in December last year, to participate in the course on artificial intelligence. Minister Luiz Fux, from the STF, also went and had his ticket paid for by TJ-RJ.
In June 2025, Madrid received a delegation of 27 magistrates for the course “Disinformation, Artificial Intelligence and Other Challenges to Democracy in Electoral Contexts”.
The person who traveled most abroad during the Couto administration was not a magistrate, but civil servant Gabriela Geyerhahn. She was appointed advisor to the TJ presidency in February 2025 and, since then, has been to Europe seven times for work. I was scheduled to travel to Argentina last Saturday (23) along with 14 judges and judges for a seminar on gender-based violence.
Gabriela is also at the top of daily allowance beneficiaries under the Couto administration. Until April, he received R$253 thousand. He is above the president of the TJ himself, second in the ranking, who received R$240,000.
On two trips, the server arrived days before the magistrates who would participate in courses and seminars, receiving a daily allowance for the entire period.
In March 2025, she embarked on the 25th for Rome, where, from the 31st, she and 20 other magistrates would participate in a seminar on organized crime. Most of the judges and judges were on the 28th or 29th.
In June, Gabriela went to Madrid on the 18th for the course that started on the 23rd. The magistrates embarked on the 21st.
In both destinations, as well as in the others she visited (Milan, Rome, Seville and Lisbon), the server published photos of tourist attractions on her social networks.
According to the court, Gabriela is responsible for preparing the logistics of the trips. In addition to being a TJ-RJ employee, she is also an actress. Plays Simone in the series Arcanjo Renegado, on Globoplay. Her character is an advisor to the fictional governor Manuela.
Court says that trips serve for technical improvement
The TJ-RJ stated, in a note, that the increase in daily rates is due to “a change in the administration’s vision”, aiming to “invest in technical improvement, in the exchange of knowledge, as well as fundamental technological development in the management of the institution”.
The court also declared that the expenses are covered “by the court’s own revenue”, from the Court of Justice Fund, whose cash is supplied by the collection of fees for judicial services.
“The TJ-RJ, due to its importance, constantly receives invitations for its members to participate in national and international events, as well as seeking to invest in technical improvement, in the exchange of knowledge, as well as fundamental technological development in the management of the institution. The increase in international travel was due to the holding of official courses with an average participation of 20 to 30 judges in each, with an employee to organize and a magistrate from senior administration”, states the note.
“Regarding the growth of the budget for the provision of courses in Brazil and abroad, aimed at the improvement of magistrates, there was a change in the administration’s vision, resulting in an increase in expenses with daily allowances. It is worth noting, however, that there was a decrease in the impact of the budget since the collection of the Court of Justice Fund was increased by 350% in the current administration. The expenditure on daily allowances and courses was placed below 0.26% of the collection.”
The court also declared that the granting of daily allowances follows “the standards established by the National Council of Justice and are on the Transparency Portal”.
“The daily payments paid are available for public consultation on the Transparency Portal with all the information relating to the expense, including the name and registration number of the person who received it, the date of payment, the amount, the period and the purpose”, states the court note.
In relation to the daily allowances received by Gabriela, the court declared that “the employee is designated to prepare the logistics of travel and the participation of magistrates in seminars, courses and thematic discussions on the performance of the judiciary”. “All of the employee’s travel and daily allowances are recorded in an administrative process.”
