Cármen Lúcia defends decision on royalties.
"Royalties are distributed monthly. So, at the turn of the month, they need to know which rule applies. That's the reason," Minister Cármen Lúcia told journalists in Brasília when commenting on the suspension of the Royalties Law until the Supreme Court plenary evaluates the issue.
SAO PAULO, March 19 (Reuters) - Supreme Court Justice Cármen Lúcia defended on Tuesday her unilateral decision to suspend the new formula for distributing oil royalties, arguing that there were financial risks for the states and that there was not enough time for the measure to be brought before the full Court.
"The royalties are distributed monthly. So, at the turn of the month, they need to know which rule applies. That's the reason," the minister told reporters in Brasília, according to the STF press office.
The minister, who is the rapporteur for four direct actions of unconstitutionality (Adins) filed by the governments of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, and São Paulo, and by the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, stated that there is a large amount of material in these actions, which would make it impossible for the matter to reach the Supreme Court plenary in time.
Asked if a decision by the full court, rather than a single judge, would have been ideal, the minister replied: "Oh yes, if I'd had the time. In these seven years (at the Supreme Court), this has only happened to me on one occasion."
Cármen Lúcia said she will work on the four cases throughout the next week and promised to release the process to the full Court soon.
"I'm working on them, I'll work on them next week and release them soon," he said. "I intend to finish Easter with this ready and released for the ministers; it's a lot of material," he added.
(Reporting by Eduardo Simões)