Justices on Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) are preparing two ways to counter the requests for review expected at Tuesday's session (Sept. 15), the court's first plenary meeting on the crisis surrounding Justice Alexandre de Moraes. According to Valor Econômico, one option is early voting: justices who favor opening an investigation of Moraes would register their ballots in advance. The other is a procedural motion, likely filed by the rapporteur, André Mendonça, to request the precautionary suspension of the colleague named in conversations with the former banker Daniel Vorcaro, ex-controller of Banco Master and jailed in the bank's fraud scandal.

The maneuver has a limit. A request for review suspends the trial, and neither early votes nor a precautionary suspension can make a final verdict take effect, writes Maria Cristina Fernandes in Valor. The anticipated votes serve to deflate whoever wants to delay the session: they show where the majority stands.

In the tally the newspaper compiled on Saturday (12), the bloc against opening an investigation of Moraes had only the votes of Gilmar Mendes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin, three out of eight. Moraes himself and Dias Toffoli are not expected to vote. Toffoli has already recused himself from cases tied to Master, according to Folha de S.Paulo.

What the session will decide

The plenary will weigh the validity of a Federal Police report commissioned by Mendonça, which pointed to a supposed relationship between Moraes and Vorcaro, and will rule on a nullity request from the Prosecutor General's office (PGR). The justices are also expected to decide whether to open or shelve an investigation of Moraes, G1 reported. The PGR argues Mendonça could not commission a probe into a colleague without the plenary's authorization, and that the full court holds the power to rule on the matter.

Since Saturday, the case has been out of Mendonça's hands. Court President Edson Fachin took over the case file on the messages between Moraes and Vorcaro and sent the investigations into Banco Master and the INSS benefit fraud to the presidency, leaving them frozen until he rules again. Fachin also refused, on Saturday morning, a request from the court's senior justice, Gilmar Mendes, to add Moraes' own bid to investigate Mendonça for alleged abuse of authority to Tuesday's agenda, Valor reported. In his order, Fachin cited the possibility of a judge's disqualification under the Civil Procedure Code.

"Considering the possibility that the deliberation on PET 16.662 may trigger the application of Article 144, IV, of the Civil Procedure Code, I order the judiciary secretariat, under Article 13, XV, of the STF's internal rules, to transfer the rapporteurship of PET 16.662 to the presidency of the Supreme Federal Court."

The session will be broadcast on TV Justiça, with access to the courtroom restricted, according to G1. Thirteen former STF justices signed a statement calling for an open session and rigorous fact-finding, and bar association (OAB) leaders and lawmakers are expected to attend, Valor reported. The next step is set for Tuesday: whether Moraes becomes the formal target of an investigation by the full court.