In year-end session, Brazil chief justice says “democracy has won”
Speaking at the ceremony marking the end of the year for the Judiciary Branch, head of Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux mentioned threats both “rhetoric” and “real” targeting the court this year, and stated that “democracy has won.”
“Over the course of last year, this Supreme Court, as well as the Judiciary Branch as a whole, also faced rhetoric threats, which were staved off with the union and cohesion of its justices; and also real threats, which were confronted with firm stances and brave decisions,” Fux declared.
Without naming any specific incidents, Fux said that “after a challenging year, democracy has won, as it convinced Brazilian of its important role in the exercise of its liberties and equality.”
The yearly ceremony marks the beginning of recess at all courts of justice across the country, with the consideration of urgent cases only, by judges on duty.
Justice Luiz Fux will be on duty at the Supreme Court starting on that day, until January 9. From that day on, up to January 31—the period in which justices are on holiday—the justice on duty will be Rosa Weber, second in charge at the country’s highest court.
Pandemic
In his address, Luiz Fux underscored the court’s role in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the court sought to base its decisions on scientific knowledge, against denialist positions on the seriousness of the sanitary crisis.
“In the second year of the pandemic, this Supreme Court once again prioritized measures that aimed at saving lives and ensuring the health of Brazilians, always fostering science and opposing denialism,” Justice Fux stated.
In Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras’s speech, in turn, he also mentioned the work of federal prosecutors on pandemic-related issues, as well as the report by the Congress investigative committee, submitted to his office in October.
On the topic, Aras said that “it is understandable that society may be eager to get quick answers,” adding, however, that “it is necessary to dissociate the work conducted by a parliamentary committee, which has its own characteristics in the political field, from legal processes with a limit, criteria, and terms established.”
The Office of the Prosecutor-General has reported that “all measures stemming from the COVID-19 investigative committee report” have been submitted to the Supreme Court. Late in November, Aras sent to the top court ten requests for measures linked to the report, in which Congress members ask for charges to be filed on 80 individuals, 13 of whom shielded by their public posts, including President Jair Bolsonaro.
