Overview

• Ministers Cristiano Zanin, Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes voted to reserve to the Supreme Federal Court the authorization of searches and seizures in congressional facilities and in functional residences occupied by lawmakers.
• The case is being decided in the Court's virtual plenary, which allows written votes and remains open until 11:59 p.m. on September 26.
• The trio also rejected a Senate request that execution of search warrants require prior approval from the presidents of the Chamber or the Senate.
• Zanin argued that measures executed in parliamentary spaces affect the exercise of the mandate, attracting Supreme Court competence, while clarifying that arrest warrants for legislative employees without privileged forum remain with ordinary courts.
• The vote comes the same week the Chamber approved PEC 3/2021, which would require congressional authorization for criminal cases against deputies and senators, heightening scrutiny of the Court's ruling.