The raising of the retirement age and the appointment of younger ministers to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) have made it common for judges to serve more than 25 years in office, which has so far been rare in the history of the Supreme Court. The long tenure of ministers – and, in theory, the persistence of the ideology of the presidents who appointed them – is one of the issues that has provoked clashes between the judiciary and legislature in recent days.
This week, the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), declared that it would be “good for the judiciary and for Brazilian society” to create mandates for ministers. The dean of the STF, Gilmar Mendes, criticized the proposal.
The historical average length of tenure of FST judges since its first establishment in 1891 is 3,427 days, or nine years and four months. Only 19 of the 171 people appointed so far have been members of the Court for more than 20 years, and five for more than 25 years, according to an investigation by the Court Estadao from official data. In the current makeup of the Supreme Court, six ministers – more than half of the Court – can pass the second mark if they serve until the age limit of 75, when retirement is mandatory.
Vitor Rhein Schirato, a professor at USP Law School, understands that lack of renewal in the STF for long periods can be detrimental to business. “The Constitution is changeable and must be interpreted according to the times. If the Court does not change, it has great difficulty in giving this updated interpretation,” he said.
Schirato defends both the institution of mandates and the requirement of a qualified majority for the approval of ministers in the Senate, which could favor the search for consensus on names supported by the minority. “Not that I think that jurisprudence must always change, on the contrary, the Supreme Court must pacify, but new questions must have new answers,” she added.
“The ideal was renewal,” underlined political scientist Maria Tereza Sadek. “A person who has been in an institution for a long time obviously has more experience, but he doesn’t have a mechanism to update himself, in the sense of reflecting on the immense changes taking place in society.”
‘Walking stick’
In 2015, the so-called “PEC of Bengal” extended the deadline for ministers to leave office by five years. The provision allowed Celso de Mello and Marco Aurélio Mello to postpone their retirement and set a new record of continuity: 31 years.
Besides them, only two ministers of the Old Republic – Hermínio do Espírito Santo and André Cavalcanti – and minister Moreira Alves, who arrived at the STF in 1975, during the military dictatorship, were part of the institution for more than two and a half decade.
Gilmar Mendes, who arrived at the Supreme Court in 2002, recommended by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and Dias Toffoli, chosen by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2009, can serve 28 and 33 years respectively at the STF, under current rules.
The changes were accompanied by a tendency to appoint younger people. All four of the last ministers were chosen, by three different presidents, when they were under 50 years old.
Minor
Alexandre de Moraes was nominated by Michel Temer at the age of 47, in 2017. Nunes Marques and André Mendonça were chosen by Jair Bolsonaro, both 48, in 2020 and 2021. Cristiano Zanin, Lula’s given name this year, he is 47 years old.
The trend could continue if the PT deputy decides to replace Minister Rosa Weber with the Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias, 43 years old, or with the president of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), Bruno Dantas, 45 years old. Among the trio of favourites, Justice Minister Flávio Dino, 55, stands out. In his first term, Lula approved eight names for the Supreme Court, averaging 56.
For Maria Tereza Sadek, the novelty of this choice entails pressure from social groups for racial and gender representation in the Court.
“This degree of mobilization is very rare and very relevant, not only because of the importance that the Supreme Court has acquired, but also as a reaction to the president’s campaign promises,” he noted. The next vacancy in the FST is expected to open in 2028.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paolo.
Source: Terra

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