Attempt to halt new court creation injunction

There has been a debate among Brazilian law members about the establishment of four new federal regional courts in the country. The amendment that created this plan (73/2013) has been under much scrutiny and on July 17, an injunction was granted by Supreme Court president Justice Joaquim Barbosa to suspend the amendment. Now, Marcus Vinicius Furtado Coelho, President of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), has stated that the entity’s Federal Council is calling for the Supreme Court to not ratify it.

The injunction was granted as a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Federal Public Prosecutors on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. The main argument is that Congress is not allowed to interfere when it comes to proposing the establishment of new courts. According to article 96 of the Federal Constitution, the Judiciary branch is the only organization that can do so.

The Federal Association of Brazilian Judges have reported that the matters surrounding the decision to grant the original injunction was unusual. The president of the organization, Nino Toldo, released a statement and said that the unconstitutional claim was filed just hours before the injunction was granted. There is also little urgency to resolve the matter as any new court would not be established until December at the earliest.

The amendment had been in place for one month prior to the issue of unconstitutionality being raised and the OAB waited unto the last working-day of Congress when Justice Barbosa, who has been publicly demonstrated skepticism, was on duty.

The entire process has raised a number of questions but the outcome of this legislation is still in limbo as politicians, jurists and other legal entities continue to debate it.