Fachin changes strategy, leaves code of ethics aside and nods to Gilmar

The president of the STF (Federal Supreme Court), Minister Edson Fachin, made a change of course and altered, in recent weeks, the strategy he had adopted since taking command of the court in September last year.

The head of the court left the code of ethics, the main banner of his administration, in the background, and began to prioritize a newly formed working group to debate a reform of the Judiciary proposed by minister Flávio Dino.

In this new strategy, 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 focus on Gilmar is explained by the fact that the minister is one of the main articulators within the STF, especially in the wing made up of Alexandre de Moraes, Dino and Cristiano Zanin who have made numerous criticisms of the Fachin administration.

The group understands that the proposal to create a code of ethics at a time when the names of members of the court emerged in the investigations into Banco Master exposed the STF and that Fachin should adopt the opposite stance and defend his colleagues.

This assessment was exposed by these ministers to Fachin in a meeting in March and which exposed the internal crisis in the STF.

The ministers reinforced an old request for Fachin to lead the movement in court to respond to the crisis on behalf of all ministers.

The assessment is that it is up to the president to coordinate the court's agenda, and not to focus on an individual agenda - a reference to the code of ethics, the main proposal of Fachin's presidency.

Fachin, however, preferred to insist on defending the conduct manual and make numerous statements with veiled messages to his colleagues, which created an internal rift and harmed the progress of his projects as head of the court.

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. Days later, Fachin led the tribute to the minister's 24th birthday in court. The president of the STF stated that the date goes beyond the personal dimension and reaches the Court's own institutional memory.

Fachin stated that, over more than two decades, Gilmar Mendes became one of the STF's most permanent and recognized institutional references and was the protagonist of important transformations experienced by the court.

He also highlighted the dean's contribution to the maturation of Brazilian constitutional jurisdiction, his academic performance and his permanent willingness to dialogue.

In recent days, in the most recent nod to the dean, Fachin began processing the minister's proposal for a summary against bomb agendas in the National Congress.

Gilmar Mendes published on June 10th on his social networks that the "National Congress cannot create expenses to be borne by states and municipalities without indicating the source of funding". Eight days later, Fachin followed through on his colleague's proposal.

The expectation is that Fachin's new stance will improve relations and that he will be able to regain control of the court's plenary session and the progress of important issues affecting the court.

The fact that the Banco Master case is being processed in the Second Panel also facilitates Fachin's new strategy, who usually supports Minister André Mendonça's report, but does not participate in the trials and does not need to take sides between the rapporteur and Gilmar, who have been on opposite sides in this process.

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