Brazil’s longest-serving justice, Celso de Mello, has announced that he will resign for health reasons on October 13. As a member of the Supreme Federal Tribunal (Supremo Tribunal Federal, STF) since 1989, Mello is often referred to as the “dean” of the Court, carrying forward traditions that in some cases predate the 1988 Constitution and the 1985 return to democracy.
The selection of Mello’s successor seems to be following the usual script of coalitional politics. After consulting allies, President Bolsonaro appears to have settled on the candidacy of a politically well-connected judge in Brasília. Justices on the STF and members of Congress have made themselves heard in a fashion reminiscent of past high court nominations, where candidates are “pre-vetted” in an informal process by contending political forces in Brasília, prior to a largely pro forma Senate confirmation hearing.
The nomination is a good time to draw attention to a fantastic new perspective on the STF and its role in Brazilian democracy. Felipe Recondo and Luiz Weber’s Os Onze (The Eleven) is a deeply sourced page turner, quickly winding through the twists and turns of the STF’s increasingly active role in Brazilian politics. The authors – journalists at the legal affairs website Jota and the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, respectively – write for a popular audience, but they are well-versed in the literature on judicial politics both in Brazil and beyond (not for nothing, the book is entitled The Eleven, a tribute to Jeffrey Toobin’s classic on the U.S. Supreme Court, The Nine).
The result is a thoroughly disturbing tale of backroom negotiations over judicial appointments, the court’s increasingly assertive but discombobulated role in public policy, and the tensions generated by the court’s involvement in recent corruption scandals. Each justice comes alive as a character, with attention to their quirky habits and unique legal philosophies. Throughout, the authors are in subtle conversation with the academic literature on judicial politics, including rich discussions of judicial independence, strategic decision-making, compliance and non-compliance, and other related themes.
Os Onze offers a well-informed window into the paradoxical – and occasionally infuriating – role of the high court in Brazilian democracy. The book highlights the increasingly active and even destabilizing effect of the court as it has plowed into political disputes between the elected branches. Simultaneously, though, the authors demonstrate how resistant justices can be to change. Two chapters on recent corruption scandals, in particular, show how reticent many justices have been to intervene in politics decisively, except when placed under exceptional public pressure. One comes away with the impression that the high court is deeply embedded in the politics of Brasília, capable of participating as co-equals in complex political bargains but simultaneously incapable of breaking with the political elites behind them.
Image: Companhia das Letras
