STF Plenary Suspended After Contentious Session as Public Distrust Hits Record High

Overview

• A heated plenary that began on Tuesday, September 15 ended without a decision after Minister Flávio Dino requested a pedido de vista, pausing analysis of allegations linking Minister Alexandre de Moraes to messages involving banker Daniel Vorcaro and leaving the case frozen for up to 90 days.
• Datafolha polling released this week shows 48% of voters now say they do not trust the Supreme Court, the highest figure in the institute’s series, and 47% say the episode will influence their presidential vote.
• The session exposed split over basic procedure: one side, led by President Edson Fachin, argued the plenary could authorize an inquiry even without a PGR or PF request while opponents, including Moraes, said the public prosecutor must remain the formal initiator of criminal probes.
• Political actors reacted quickly — the PT acknowledged electoral damage and Lula’s campaign is managing fallout while Congress has accelerated proposals to curb individual ministerial powers, create fixed mandates, tighten nomination rules, limit monocratic suspensions, or transfer some criminal cases to the STJ.
• Legal experts warn the core problem is structural: lifelong tenure (vitaliciedade) and broad monocratic powers make swift fixes hard, so changes being debated would alter how the STF functions and could have lasting effects on judicial independence and electoral politics.