Dino defends reform of the Judiciary with stricter penalties for corruption of judges

The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Flávio Dino defended a new reform of the Judiciary amid tensions in the Supreme Court. The judge suggests stricter penalties for judges in cases of corruption, an end to compulsory retirement as a punishment for the category and the multiplication of “hangings”, the target of a recent judgment in the Court.

In an article published on the ICL Notícias website, Dino wrote that “reforms are welcome, when inspired by public interest and covered with technical consistency”. The last reform of the Judiciary took place 22 years ago, in 2004, during Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s first term as President.

“22 years after the last Reform, I believe it is time to carry out a new cycle of constitutional and legal changes, through the participation of the bodies that make up the Justice System and the entities representing its members. I emphasize that this participatory and dialogical dimension is essential, as only the AI-5 of the dictatorship managed to impose, ‘from the outside in’, changes in the Judiciary (…)”, writes Dino.

The article occurs amid discussions of a Code of Conduct in the Court, designed by the president of the STF, Edson Fachin, but which is resisted by some ministers. The proposal is being prepared by minister Cármen Lúcia, who must present a draft to her colleagues. According to Fachin, the expectation is that the text will be submitted and analyzed in 2026, in an administrative session of the court that must be public.

Dino’s proposal is a broader review, with 14 measures, which include reviewing a chapter of the Penal Code, reducing the number of cases and speeding up their analysis, in addition to the end of compulsory retirement as a punishment and the multiplication of penduricalhos.

Dino also says that more rigorous criminal offenses must be created for corruption, embezzlement and malfeasance involving judges, prosecutors, lawyers (public and private), defenders, prosecutors, advisors and Judiciary employees.

Furthermore, in Dino’s proposal he wrote that it was necessary to adopt rules and limits for Artificial Intelligence, in addition to criteria for virtual sessions in the Courts.

See the 14 measures pointed out by Dino:

• Procedural requirements for appeal access to higher courts, especially the STJ, aiming to speed up legal actions;
• Criteria for issuing court orders and for assigning such credits to companies and funds, aiming to eliminate reckless or fraudulent court orders;
• Specialized and agile bodies, in all Courts, for judging cases involving crimes against the person, crimes against sexual dignity, as well as acts of administrative improbity;
• Creation of a specific procedure for judicial examination of decisions by Regulatory Agencies, aiming at the rapid arbitration of conflicts of great economic importance, enabling speed and legal certainty in works and investments;

Revision of the Penal Code chapter on crimes against the Administration of Justice, including creating more rigorous criminal offenses for corruption, embezzlement and malfeasance involving judges, prosecutors, lawyers (public and private), defenders, promoters, advisors, employees of the Justice system in general. Reliability is a fundamental attribute for the democratic legitimation of all legal professionals, which justifies specific legal treatment.

• Procedures for related disciplinary trials, for example when there is participation in administrative infractions by magistrates, prosecutors and lawyers;
• Adequate processing of processes in the Electoral Court, avoiding the undue prolongation currently observed, causing legal uncertainty and turmoil in the political sphere, as is currently occurring in two States;
• Composition and powers of the National Councils of Justice and the Public Ministry, so that they are more efficient in monitoring and punishing illegalities;
• Rights, duties, remuneration, impediments, ethics and discipline of legal careers, suppressing archaic institutions such as “punitive compulsory retirement” and the multiplication of compensation installments;
• Criteria for virtual sessions in Courts and Judicial Courts;
• Review of the constitutional powers of the STF and Superior Courts;
• Guarantee of presence of members of the Justice System in the districts and capacity units;
• Rules and limits for the use of Artificial Intelligence in the processing of legal proceedings;
• Collection, transparency and use of resources that make up the Modernization Funds and the public legal fees funds;
• Measures that reduce the number of processes in the Justice System, starting with the procedures currently verified in tax executions, which must be intensely dejudicialized.