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The Supreme Federal Tribunal (in Portuguese Supremo Tribunal Federal, or simply STF) is the highest court of law of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The court functions as a last resort tribunal and a Constitutional Court; its rulings therefore cannot be appealed. It can also overturn laws passed by the Congress. This happens when the court judges a direct action of unconstitucionality, Ação direta de Inconstitucionalidade or Adin. The members of the court, who are called ministers (ministro), are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. They serve until compulsory retirement, at 70 years old.
History The court was inaugurated in 1808, the year that the Portuguese royal family arrived in Rio de Janeiro, with the name of House of Appeals of Brazil, Case de Suplicação do Brasil. It changed its name in 1829 to Supreme Justice Tribunal, Supremo Tribunal de Justiça. With the first Constitution of the Republic, the court received its current name. The number of members has changed through history. The Constitution of 1891 decided that the court would have 15 members. When Getúlio Vargas came into power, the number of members was reduced to 11. It changed to 16 in 1965, but returned to 11 in 1969. It has not changed ever since. Of all Presidents only one, Café Filho, has not nominated a minister. Current The court is composed by the following ministers (year of nomination and president that nominated in brackets): The president has a two-years term, which cannot be renewed. When the president steps down, by convention, the most senior member who has not been president yet, who, also by convention, is the vice-president, is elected president of the STF. The current president, Ellen Gracie Northfleet, is the first woman to hold the post. 2006 There are four main cases put to the STF vote in 2006: The first is to determine if the abortion of a fetus with no brain is legal. The second is to define if embryonic stem cell research is constitutional or not. The third is to decide over the legality of the postal service monopoly. Finally, the fourth is to determine the constitutionality of the National Council of Justice ruling that banned nepotism from the Judiciary. Critics Critics claim that the STF bases most of its decisions in a political way. With the recent Mensalão scandal, former chief of staff José Dirceu requested various writs to halt his expulsion process. Three ministers voted in favour of Dirceu in all writs: Sepúlveda Pertence, Eros Grau and then-president Nelson Jobim. It is also said that various ministers had electoral pretensions. Former minister, and former judge of the International Court of Justice, Francisco Rezek resigned to become minister of foreign affairs, and after some months returned to the court. Former minister Maurício Corrêa admited the possibility of being a candidate to a state government while he was a minister. Both ministers Pertence and Jobim are rumored to be potential presidential candidates. Recently, minister Nelson Jobim has been criticised by the press, that claims he has been taking decisions that clearly favour president Lula, in an attempt to run for vice-president as Lula's running mate. Changes Due to the possibility that a single President may appoint several Ministers, thus creating some form of political connection with them which would seem to distort the Tribunal's independence, there has been some discussion about changing the manner of choosing new members. Some think that the current system of appointment works in theory, but should be bettered in practice. The appointment of new Ministers by the President usually finds no obstacles whatsoever in the Senate, where the discussion about the nominee's views and opinions are nothing but a formality. Therefore, there are those who argue that the Senate should start asking questions that really matter and concern the Judiciary Branch. Some others believe that the age of 70, that brings compulsory retirement, should be revised, while there are discussions currently being held in the Senate that argue that the appointment of the Ministers should be divised between the Executive branch, the Legislative branch and the Judiciary branch. | ||||||||
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