Brazil's Justice Toffoli Proposes to Extend Restriction of Privileged Jurisdiction

05/10/2018 - 10h28

On Wednesday, May 9, Justice Dias Toffoli, of Brazil's Supreme Court (STF), sent an official letter to the president of the court, Justice Cármen Lúcia, with a proposal to extend the restriction of privileged jurisdiction to all the authorities of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches at the federal, state and local levels.

If it is approved, the restriction could affect, for example, Presidential Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha, who is under investigation in the Supreme Court for an alleged environmental crime as well as for allegedly receiving bribes from construction company Odebrecht in the construction led by Trensurb (the urban train company of the city of Porto Alegre).

These cases could be sent to the first instance of the courts in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Justice Toffoli presented two proposals of binding abridgement to the Supreme Court's decision. The first one is related to extending the new Supreme Court rule of jurisdiction exclusively in the cases of crimes committed during the mandate and due to the position or public job, to all authorities, including the three branches and the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The second proposal is to cancel the privileged jurisdiction rules set forth by the constitution of some states.

During the hearing of the case, Justice Toffoli proposed to extend the restriction; however only Justice Gilmar Mendes agreed with him.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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