Rousseff appoints new Supreme Court judge

President Dilma Rousseff nominated on Tuesday (Apr 14) jurist Luiz Edson Fachin, 57, for a seat at the Federal Supreme Court (STF, in its Portuguese acronym), the country's highest court. The appointment, however, has yet to be approved by the Senate.

According to a note released by the presidential palace, Fachin “meets all the requirements necessary to exercise the highest position in the country's magistracy.” A professor of Civil Law at the Federal University of Paraná, where he graduated in law in 1980, the minister-to-be is a founding partner of a law firm in the city of Curitiba which specializes in arbitration and mediation in business.

Fachin holds a master's degree and a PhD in Law in Social Relations, did post-doctoral work in Canada, and has worked as a scholar since 1980, with dozens of books published, mainly on Civil Law. Furthermore, he was a member of the Justice Ministry Commission for the Reform in the Judiciary Branch and collaborated with the Senate in drafting Brazil's new Civil Code. He is also a member of the Brazilian Academies of Civil Law, Juridical Letters and Constitutional Law.

The nomination also won the praise of the judges of the Federal Supreme Court. STF President Ricardo Lewandowski said he heard the news with great satisfaction. In his view, Fachin is a pioneer in Brazilian law. “We needed someone from the legal profession, someone with a lawyer's vision, who face the other said of the counter. I believe he's among the best names the government could offer society and the Parliament. I'm convinced that, after being approved, he'll be able to provide great service. The Judiciary branch will only be benefited by this nomination,” he stated.

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso said that “the choice was an extremely fortunate one. He's a good jurist and has a good character, and will certainly make a good judge. I think it's a great gain for the Supreme Court and for the country to have him here,” he declared.

Brazil's vice-President Michel Temer expressed his support, saying that Luiz Faching is a “high-calibre jurist; I have him as a reference, because I work in the legal field. I know he's become quite a distinguished figure in the legal world.”

The nomination of Luiz Fachin will now be submitted to the Senate's Commission for Constitution and Justice for deliberation. If approved,  the future minister will be sworn in by the top court itself. He is to take the position left vacant by STF's former President Joaquim Barbosa, who retired in July, 2014. The court's 11-minister quorum has been incomplete for eight months.

Fachin is the court's fifth minister appointed by President Dilma Rousseff, who is currently in her second administration and has  nominated Luiz Fux, Rosa Weber, Teori Zavascki and Luís Roberto Barroso. At the STF, Fachin should take over the proceedings left by Minister Ricardo Lewandowski after the latter assumed the presidency of the court.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira