Supreme Court agenda in debate
Organizations call for expedition of cases on independence of judges and human rights
Pending in the Supreme Court are two cases that deal with the independence of judges and the role they can play in the protection of human rights: the Declaratory Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) No. 5,070, whose reporting judge is Justice Dias Tóffoli, and the Writ of Security No. 33,078, whose reporting judge is Justice Rosa Weber. Given the importance and relevance of a Supreme Court ruling, human rights organizations have sent a letter to the president of the court, Justice Carmén Lucia, drawing attention to the sluggish procedure and requesting urgency for the two cases.
ADI 5,070 was filed by the Office of the Attorney General in response to Resolution 617/2013 of the São Paulo State Court that closed the Prison Sentence Enforcement Courts that existed in 316 of the state’s judicial districts and replaces them with 10 centralized departments, in a direct violation of constitutional provisions. This centralization further distances prisoners from their families, lawyers from their prison sentence enforcement cases and judges from the prison facilities that, by law, they should monitor. Various civil society organizations have already submitted amicus curiae briefs supporting the request by the Office of the Attorney General for the resolution in question to be declared unconstitutional.
The judgment of Writ of Security No. 33,078 would enforce an important decision of the CNJ (National Justice Council) that aims to standardize – with clear, objective and impartial rules – the procedures for appointing auxiliary judges in Brazil. In a historic decision that would strengthen the principles of judicial independence and irremovability of judges, the CNJ determined that the São Paulo State Court must create a new procedure for the appointment of these judges. If enforced, this regulation will protect the independence of judges and prevent them from being removed for purely ideological reasons, such as with the case of the São Paulo judge Roberto Corcioli. However, the State Court appealed to the Supreme Court and the decision was suspended by a preliminary injunction issued by Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, who was serving as interim president of the Supreme Court during the judicial recess. In this case too, several civil society organizations have already submitted amicus curiae briefs calling for the writ to be denied and for the decision of the CNJ to become effective immediately.
“They are paradigmatic cases in that they address the constitutional guarantee of access to justice and the need for the independence of the Judicial Branch,” said Conectas, AJD (Association of Judges for Democracy) and IDDD (Defense of the Right to a Defense Institute) in the letter.
A copy of the letter was also sent to Justice Dias Toffoli, the reporting judge in ADI 5,070, and to Justice Rosa Weber, the reporting judge in Writ of Security 33,078, so the passage of the two cases can be expedited and they can be finally heard by the court.
