Overview

• Brazil’s Supreme Court is hearing Google Brasil’s challenge to orders allowing generic, non-individualized access to telecommunication and internet search records in criminal probes.
• The dispute stems from an STJ ruling that upheld obtaining data from unspecified users who searched for information related to councilwoman Marielle Franco in the days before her 2018 murder.
• The justices recognized the case as having repercussão geral, so the eventual decision will set binding guidance for similar investigations nationwide.
• Minister Flávio Dino said a crisis in Congress’s deliberative process conditions the Court’s action, arguing that resolving institutional gridlock is essential to address judicial dilemmas.
• Minister Gilmar Mendes rejected claims of judicial activism and said the Constitution provides checks that prevent any branch from exercising unchecked power.