Edson Fachin, the president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court, postponed on Thursday, September 17, the scheduled review of a case involving fellow Justice André Mendonça. The deliberation at the court, known in Portuguese as the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), had been set for September 23.
Fachin communicated the decision through an official written notice without any public statement from himself or the other justices. The court also cancelled its plenary session scheduled for Thursday, September 17, which prevented any of the justices from addressing the delay from the bench.
According to CNN politics analyst Larissa Rodrigues, speaking on the programme Bastidores CNN, expectations for the announcement had existed since Tuesday, September 15, when Fachin was expected to speak during a plenary sitting. Rodrigues said the programme had opened by noting that a decision from Fachin was anticipated and that he had been expected to give notice during a court session.
Rodrigues added that announcing the postponement by official notice without a personal statement from Fachin drew attention. Because no plenary session was scheduled for Thursday either, she noted, there would be no justification delivered in Fachin's own words and no comments from the other justices.
Flávio Dino review request and linked cases
The postponement was considered predictable after Justice Flávio Dino requested more time to review the case files and suspended the discussion on whether the cases of André Mendonça and Justice Alexandre de Moraes could be judged together.
CNN politics analyst Clarissa Oliveira noted that legal experts, lawyers and Supreme Federal Court justices had already argued that it made no sense to debate the Mendonça case while a point of order remained open and the two cases were linked.
Based in Brasília, the Supreme Federal Court is the highest court in Brazil and serves as the country's constitutional tribunal. Its plenary consists of 11 justices nominated by the president and confirmed by the Federal Senate. Under Brazilian court procedure, a justice's formal request to examine a case file suspends plenary debate, while a point of order requires the court to resolve how a proceeding should be conducted.
Lula administration talks and internal court tensions
The standoff has also drawn the attention of allies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party, or Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). According to Oliveira, allies of the president at the Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of Brazil's executive branch in Brasília, were weighing behind the scenes the possibility of a more direct dialogue between Lula and Fachin to seek consensus within the court's plenary.
Oliveira reported that while there was no confirmation of such talks up to that point, there was a willingness from the federal government and President Lula to participate actively in trying to find consensus within the Supreme Federal Court plenary.
Oliveira also pointed out that the atmosphere behind the scenes at the Supreme Federal Court remained extremely tense, with recent episodes involving Justices Gilmar Mendes and Luiz Fux making any immediate prospect of reconciliation difficult.
She concluded that tensions behind the scenes at the court were so high that it was difficult at that moment to foresee any truce capable of turning the page quickly. Oliveira added that dialogue alone was not enough and that the issue had to be resolved quickly, or it would further contaminate the election.
