The debate on the code of ethics for STF ministers involves quite complex intellectual engineering.
The first and most obvious difficulty is to imagine that the members of the most important court in the country need a code of moral conduct, even if it is not to be valid and punishing, but simply to decorate and serve as an example to the judiciary.
The second difficulty is political. Declaring unethical, from a certain point, a behavior hitherto practiced with embarrassing habit, hurts sensibilities and could derail the initiative of the austere minister Edson Fachin, inspired by German and American models.
The third difficulty concerns the precision and scope of the precepts.
The iconic sixty-year-old Itália building in São Paulo had a convention in the 1980s that prohibited, under penalty of a fine, among other acts of incivility, spitting in the corridors. The law students, enchanted by the principle of legal reserve (there is no crime or penalty without a prior law which defines them), had fun listing hypotheses not provided for by the co-ownership legislator: also can we pee?
The risk of being too generic is proportional to the risk of being too detailed. Technical imprecision contributes to the ineffectiveness of the document, favoring the practice of old and new deviations, or to the promotion, in public opinion, of skepticism with regard to the notions of propriety, honesty and independence.
A seemingly insoluble question, one of the methods used by unscrupulous litigants is the recruitment of law firms composed of relatives (children, partners) of judges of higher courts.
Although contaminated by recent news, a decalogue intended for ministers (not retroactive of course) would be able to shed light on the future of the Supreme Court and contribute to building its credibility:
1. You will be humble. You won’t be dazzled.
2. You will immediately submit preliminary decisions to your peers for review.
3. You will live in an environment of absolute transparency. Nothing will be opaque. Your position is incompatible with the principles of privacy.
4. You will not form a legal entity. You will disclose all your income, including income from remuneration, dividends, lectures, conferences, symposiums, bets, raffles, donations and sales.
5. You will return the gift received worth more than the minimum wage.
6. You will keep your distance from the parties and their interests.
7. You will not travel on board planes or yachts linked directly or indirectly to businessmen (honest or dishonest, suspicious or unsuspected, friendly or not), even if it is to participate in political, religious, funeral and sporting ceremonies.
8. You will watch football matches, Olympic tournaments and music concerts on television: the field will provide you with the model you prefer, as well as the necessary subscriptions to streaming platforms.
9. You will be modest. You will not sing at gatherings sponsored by family forensics, financial institutions, or construction companies, and you will not perform acts, even naive ones, that might undermine the perception of your moral integrity.
10. You will not commit harassment, malice or favoritism.
PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access seven free accesses from any link per day. Just click on the blue F below.
About The Author
