No one on vacation can contradict an on-call judge, says legal expert Lenio Streck.

Current Brazil Network- For Lenio Streck, a professor of Constitutional Law and post-doctoral researcher in Law, the issue of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's freedom has gone beyond the legal sphere. "This matter has become a political dispute; there is no longer any legal basis for it, it was set aside a long time ago," he states.

According to him, "the only one who can actually make the decision is the on-call doctor." "No one who is on vacation can override an on-call doctor; if this becomes the norm, there would be no need for on-call doctors anymore, it would be pointless. It's simple," he points out.

Check out the interview below.

How do you view this episode regarding the release of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by TRF 4 judge Rogério Favreto and the entire unfolding of this decision, from Judge Sergio Moro's conduct in not complying with the decision to João Pedro Gebran Neto's statement?

This issue has turned into a political dispute; there's no more legal basis for it, it was set aside a long time ago. People may disagree with the habeas corpus granted by Judge (Rogério) Favreto, and he may even be wrong, but it's not Sergio Moro or the rapporteur (João Pedro Gebran Neto), who is no longer the rapporteur, who will decide that. In other words, if Favreto couldn't rule on this habeas corpus, neither could the former rapporteur; they're 'zero to zero'.

In reality, the only one who can actually dispatch is the on-call doctor. No one who is on vacation can override an on-call doctor; if that became the norm, there would be no need for on-call doctors anymore, it would be pointless. It's simple.

A court decision must be obeyed; whoever does not comply commits the crime of disobedience. The decision, whether right or wrong, can only be revoked by the panel; another judge cannot take over a case—in fact, this concept of "taking over" doesn't exist in Brazilian law. The argument that Lula's lawyers didn't authorize it is flimsy. I can request a habeas corpus, you can, anyone can do it, anywhere, on a piece of paper.

What has happened is that a mess has been created, and if there were any doubts that Moro could not judge Lula's cases, now it's blatantly obvious. And the TRF 4 itself has become suspect. Little law and a lot of politics.

Furthermore, there is also the fact that Judge Sérgio Moro made this decision on his own initiative, even before the Public Prosecutor's Office had issued a statement.

Obviously, that's another flaw; there are 5 or 6 flaws in this process. He was on vacation. There's a judge from São Paulo who's facing administrative proceedings because he issued a ruling during his vacation. Although there's a Supreme Court decision that there wouldn't be a problem with a judge issuing a ruling, these are different circumstances, not to prevent a habeas corpus from being executed. It's one thing to do something during vacation that doesn't have repercussions in the world, but that's not the case here. There's an on-call system because there's no other (judge).

This type of conduct would be clearly illegal.

Of course. It doesn't matter if someone says the decision is illegal, unconstitutional; it happens every day, and that's what appeals are for. If a judge arrests someone when they shouldn't, they have to appeal. Only the court will release them; it's that simple.

 We can therefore state that Judge Favreto's decision could only be challenged by a panel of the TRF 4 itself.

Exactly.

 We have been following the narrative from traditional media outlets, especially Globo News, which claims that this episode was a kind of political maneuver by the PT (Workers' Party). Isn't someone's freedom a paramount value, shouldn't it be above any political discussion?

Obviously, Globo News is the third criminal chamber of the Supreme Court. The 'ministers' of Globo News, (Gerson) Camarotti and Merval (Pereira), control part of Brazil, the media, they shape the imagination, they construct everything. Have a difficult problem? Consult Camarotti, he knows everything, he's the great jurist who didn't study law.