Disagreements are a sign of institutional health, not weakness, says Fachin

The president of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), Minister Edson Fachin, stated this Wednesday (1st) that any differences between the Court's judges are natural in a plural court and do not represent institutional weakness.

The statement was given in a speech at the end of the judicial semester. The STF will go on recess this Thursday (2) and will only resume work on August 3.

"We are always together in defense of institutional interests. Different understandings of facts and processes, and they exist, as is typical of a plural and independent Court, they are an expression of institutional health, not weakness", he declared.

According to Fachin, the dialogue between different legal views is what gives legitimacy to the court's decisions.

The president of the STF also highlighted the role of the Court as a space for listening. "I want to note that this Court is, above all, a space for listening: listening to each other's arguments, listening to the country and, above all, listening to the Constitution", he stated.

When taking stock of the first semester, Fachin said that the Supreme Court fulfilled its constitutional mission, despite the limitations inherent to any institution. "With the successes and inevitable errors that the judicial exercise entails, this Court has worked, a lot, in favor of Brazil and democracy", he said.

On Tuesday (30), minister Gilmar Mendes made a similar speech at the end of the work of the Second Panel. He stated that disagreements between members of the collegiate should not be interpreted as a sign of disunity within the Supreme Court. The demonstration came a week after Gilmar criticized the conduct of the investigation related to Banco Madter by minister André Mendonça.

Behind the scenes at the Court, the recent exchanges of barbs between Gilmar and Fachin are also known.

In recent months, Fachin preached self-restraint by the STF, saying that the "healthy distance" of judges between the parties is an essential condition to guarantee social justice and that judges need to answer for their mistakes.

In one of the most recent and worst moments in the relationship between the ministers, Gilmar even sent a message to Fachin harshly criticizing his management, alleging that he had paralyzed trials of relevant cases.

Gilmar wrote to Fachin that the number of important processes paralyzed on the initiative of the president of the court is impressive. According to the dean, failure to decide on relevant issues is becoming a hallmark of his colleague's presidency.

Fachin told interlocutors that he was surprised and impressed by the dean's presentation of the conversations. The president of the STF preferred not to pull the strings and decided to change his strategy.

Hours after the charge made via message on WhatsApp, the trial of the actions discussing the application of free justice in labor courts and the one questioning the Ferrogrão project was scheduled for the following week and which were suspended due to requests for review that had been made.

It was the first nod to Gilmar. As CNN showed, Fachin made a change of course and altered, in recent weeks, the strategy he had adopted since taking command of the Court to improve the internal relationship between his colleagues.

In this new phase, Fachin has avoided public statements and interviews about the conduct of judges and started making a series of nods to Gilmar Mendes and the dean's allies in the court.

The harmony between them became a subject behind the scenes of the court. Despite this, the bet is that the moment of peace may not last due to the profile of the two. Gilmar, for example, once again criticized Fachin's stance in an interview with the Roda Viva program due to the code of ethics, even after numerous nods made by the president of the court.

Source: CNN