Reforming the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), Brazil's top court, has become a central theme of the presidential race. A survey by the newspaper O Globo published on Sunday (Sept 20) compiles the candidates' proposals for the court and finds consensus on fixed terms for its ministers, as the justices are called in Brazil. The changes backed by the candidates include limits on tenure and restrictions on relatives of justices who practice law, according to the paper.
Under current rules, ministers stay on the bench until compulsory retirement at age 75. Pressure for change grew after the court's session on Sept 15, when justices clashed openly over the Banco Master case. Justice Flávio Dino called the session "disastrous" and asked for more time, suspending a review of whether to combine proceedings involving justices Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça. The vote stood at 4 to 3 for keeping the cases separate, according to the news site Vermelho.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, promised a "profound reform" of the judiciary in a potential fourth term. In a Sept 15 interview with the nightly news program Jornal da Record, he defended keeping the current ministers in place. "You cannot use the machinery of the state for campaigning or selective persecution," he said, accusing Mendonça of "selective leaks" in the Banco Master inquiry.
Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, Lula's running mate, backs fixed terms of 10 to 15 years. "It works like in Europe, ten years, twelve years, at most fifteen, but having a term is healthy, you keep renewing," he said in Ribeirão Preto, in São Paulo state, on Saturday (Sept 19). "Nothing should be for life," Alckmin added. He also called for a code of ethics for the court. Court President Edson Fachin himself endorsed a code of ethics and the end of the fake news inquiry on Sept 4, according to the magazine Veja.
Congress revives bills to curb the court
Bills stalled in Congress gained new momentum with the crisis, according to the news site Metrópoles. PEC 8/2021, a constitutional amendment proposal passed by the Senate and now before the Chamber of Deputies, would restrict monocratic rulings, decisions taken by a single justice, that suspend laws or acts of the presidents of the Republic, the Chamber, the Senate and Congress. It cleared the Constitution and Justice Committee and awaits a special committee. Bill PL 3.640/2023, approved by the Chamber, is in the Senate and sets criteria for injunctions in constitutional review cases. Fixed-term proposals vary: PEC 16/2019, by Senator Plínio Valério, provides eight years with no renewal; PEC 51/2023 sets 15 years and a minimum age of 50; PEC 77/2019 sets eight years and a minimum age of 55.
PEC 17/2026, introduced in the Senate on Sept 2, changes the criteria for choosing ministers and bars former justices from running for elected office for five years. In the Chamber, Deputies Reginaldo Lopes and Danilo Forte are collecting signatures for their own proposals. Forte's bill sets an eight-year term and would end the president's exclusive power to appoint ministers, sharing nominations among the three branches of government. "The system of exclusive appointment by the president concentrates the formation of the Supreme Court in a single branch, which can distort the composition of the tribunal over successive presidencies," Forte wrote. The bill also bars justices from taking part in events sponsored by companies with pending cases.
A vote expected after the election
Leaders of the Centrão, an influential bloc of centrist parties in Congress, and members of the judiciary privately concede that a judiciary mini-reform will come to a vote soon after the election, still in 2026, regardless of who wins the presidency, according to the columnist Igor Gadelha of Metrópoles. Judges of the superior courts, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the Supreme Court will lack the strength to resist. Their reading is that a win by Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) would bring deeper and faster changes, while Lula, who publicly supports reform, is expected to be less aggressive. A Datafolha poll reported by O Globo found record distrust of the court, with half of voters saying the crisis affects their vote for president.
Two decisions now shape the calendar. At the court, the suspended review of the Moraes and Mendonça cases awaits Dino's return to the docket. In Congress, PEC 8/2021 awaits a special committee in the Chamber, and the other bills remain in play in both houses, with a vote expected after voters go to the polls.