Minister Gilmar Méndez, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), changed the accountability rules for court judges on Wednesday (3).
According to the Constitution, the Senate is responsible for trying ministers and prosecuting them for crimes of responsibility. The Accountability Law (Law No. 1079/1950) establishes other rules regarding the process and trial.
Gilmar unilaterally decided to change some rules, such as Article 41 of this law, which states that every citizen can report to a judge before the Senate.
The Minister decided that only the PGR (Prosecutor General of the Republic) could do this, in addition to making other changes. The changes still require a referendum by the plenary session of the Strategic Technical Committee.
Understand the rules for dismissing court ministers and what changed with the Gilmar decision.
Rules for dismissal of ministers
The power to prosecute and adjudicate rests with the Senate, but any citizen can file a complaint.
Impeachment proceedings can occur in the case of crimes of liability such as:
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change a decision or vote that has already been taken at the court session, unless by appeal;
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Issuing a sentence when, under the law, he is a suspect in the case;
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Carrying out partisan political activity;
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Be negligent in performing your duties;
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Acting in a manner inconsistent with honour, dignity and decency.
The Senate office receives the complaint and sends it to a special committee that issues an opinion on whether it should be adjudicated or not.
This opinion is discussed by members of Congress and approved if it receives a simple majority of votes. Otherwise, the complaint is archived.
If approved, the authority sends a copy to the accused, with space for accusation, defense, and discussion. The minister shall be suspended from performing his duties and lose one-third of his salary until the end of the penalty period.
The trial is conducted by a nominal vote in which two-thirds of the senators present must vote in favor of impeachment. If convicted, the judge leaves office. If he is acquitted, he will be reappointed with the right to part of the wages he lost.
Gilmar changes
On Wednesday, Gilmar Mendes suspended some articles of the law regulating the accountability process. The judge said the tool could not be used as a form of intimidation and tightened some requirements.
He increased the quorum needed to open the process, from a simple majority – which in practice only requires the votes of 21 senators – to a two-thirds quorum.
Furthermore, he said the complaint should be the exclusive responsibility of PGR. “The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Federation, in his capacity as inspector (Article 127, Chapter 1) of the legal system, has the power to assess, from a purely legal perspective, the presence of concrete elements that justify the initiation of accountability proceedings,” he noted in the decision.
The judge also understood that the dismissal process could not be initiated based on the objectivity of ministers’ decisions, and followed the opinion of the Attorney General regarding the inadmissibility of articles on the temporary dismissal of judges.