“I ask for permission to greet a fourth minister who, perhaps in a future place, will be in this plenary: a black woman”, said the minister, in March 2023, to the (Supreme Federal Court), which ended up being ignored by the president ().
Three years later, as president of the Supreme Court and the (National Council of Justice), in February, Fachin spoke in favor of racial equity and swore in two black counselors: the judge of the TJ-MS (Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul) and the judge of the TJ-DFT (Court of the Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories).
With the two councilors, the representation of black people reached 17% this year, an increase of five percentage points compared to 2025. In addition to Esteves, there are two other self-declared black male councilors. Among the women, Jaceguara is the only black woman.
Data from the CNJ Statistics Panel show that by the end of March, brown and black judges represented around 13% of the country’s Councils and Superior Courts, compared to 81% of whites (a level similar to the consolidated level of 2025 in the racial composition of the Brazilian Judiciary). The largest portion appears in the Federal Military Court, with almost 23%, while the smallest is registered in the State Military Court, with around 9%.
The rules for the composition of the CNJ are set out in the Federal Constitution. There are 15 members, with a two-year term, renewable once. In addition to the nominations made by the STF and the (Superior Court of Justice), there are nominees by the TST (Superior Labor Court), the Attorney General of the Republic, the Federal Council of the (Brazilian Bar Association), the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate.
Since 2005, when it was created, the CNJ has had 163 members, 30 of them were presidents or magistrates, a position held by members of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice). In terms of gender, only 20% of the counselors were women.
Until August 2012, racial declaration was not mandatory. Since then, among those who declared themselves, there were 66 white counselors, 15 brown or black and 1 yellow.
Excluding presidents and magistrates, in terms of gender and race, the year 2024 had the highest number of counselors who declared themselves brown or black and also the highest percentage of representation of this group: 25%. Among white men, the percentage reached 73% in 2016.
Among women, the picture is even more stark. Before Jaceguara, the CNJ had self-declared brown or black women counselors from 2015 to 2022. In absolute numbers, there were three in 2017 and 2019. In percentage terms, the maximum representation was 15%, while that of white women reached 43% in 2014.
“My participation in the CNJ, as a woman and a black woman, brings a perspective on gender and race. This perspective can contribute to more equitable decisions that are closer to the concrete Brazilian reality, in particular, cases involving not only gender issues, but issues that involve social inequality”, says Jaceguara.
With a doctorate and master’s degree in law, Jaceguara was a prosecutor, public prosecutor and general director of the Escola Superior do Ministério Público de Mato Grosso do Sul. In 2022, she was appointed judge at the state court and, the following year, her name was supported for a nomination to the STF.
At the CNJ, she heads the Women’s Ombudsman’s Office and is part of the management committee of the Pact to Combat Feminicide between the Judiciary, Executive and Legislative branches. She says that she intends to implement projects to, among other things, reduce the time it takes to issue protective measures and combat sexism.
“The Judiciary is part of Brazilian society, which is marked by structural machismo and, like other institutions, reflects this thinking and stops looking at situations that are put to trial through a gender lens,” he says.
Also a doctor and master in law, Fabio Esteves served for almost a decade on the TJDFT jury court and was a co-founder of Enajun (National Meeting of Black Judges and Judges), an initiative aimed at promoting racial equity and combating racism in the Judiciary, to which he attributed the fact that he arrived at the CNJ.
The counselor is responsible for policies aimed at children and adolescence and defends that the Judiciary places the child at the center of decisions. According to him, there is a significant deficit in access to basic rights for this population, aggravated by new vulnerabilities, such as exposure in the digital environment.
For Esteves, the presence of black people, with direct experience of inequalities, contributes to strengthening and improving the execution of CNJ initiatives and making actions more effective.
“The arrival of two black people gives new meaning to the perspective of effective inclusion. The space of power is being diversified and, as a result, demands and questions of belonging will be thematized.”
