Brazilian Bar Association releases statement condemning Barbosa's attack.

247 - Led by Marcus Vinícius Furtado Coelho, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) is already adopting a more combative stance in defense of the prerogatives of the legal profession, quite different from the one that prevailed during Ophir Cavalcanti's administration. Yesterday, in response to yet another attack by the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Joaquim Barbosa, against lawyers, the OAB decided to react with a strong statement – ​​the first in the entity's history to admonish a member of the country's supreme court.

Barbosa stated that the creation of new federal courts, a proposal that has been in Congress since 2002 and which had the transparent vote of 371 federal deputies, was approved in a "sneaky" way. He also said that the new courts will only serve to provide jobs for judges and lawyers – and that they will be built next to resorts. Interestingly, Barbosa himself is fond of resorts; he spent his holidays in Trancoso and was recently looking to buy a vacation property in Miami.

Read below the Conjur report on the OAB's response to Joaquim Barbosa:

The Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) condemns Joaquim Barbosa's statements about the Regional Federal Courts (TRFs).

The Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association approved, in a plenary session on Monday evening (April 8th), held to elect the names that should represent the entity in the National Council of Justice and the National Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office, a public statement "refuting and repudiating" the statements made by the president of the Supreme Federal Court, Minister Joaquim Barbosa, during a meeting with representatives of three magistrates' associations (National Association of Labor Court Magistrates, Brazilian Magistrates Association, and Brazilian Federal Judges Association). 

On Monday, the president of the Supreme Federal Court criticized the creation of new regional federal courts, approved the previous week by the Federal Congress. "From what I see, you participated surreptitiously in the approval," said the president of the Supreme Federal Court, before engaging in a heated discussion with the vice-president of Ajufe, Ivanir Ireno. 

Barbosa openly criticized what he described as interference by judges' professional associations in the approval of the text of Constitutional Amendment Proposal 544, which created four new Regional Federal Courts. The president of the Supreme Federal Court even said that the Regional Federal Courts "will serve to provide employment for lawyers (...) and will be created in resorts"on some beach." 

"It makes no sense, nor does it correspond to the relevance of the topic, to assume that the creation of new Regional Federal Courts aims to create jobs, much less for lawyers. At no time was there any intention to favor the legal profession or to pursue interests other than the improvement of the Federal Justice system in Brazil," says the public statement released by the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association). 

Read the statement from the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB): 

The Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association, during an ordinary session held on this date (April 8), took note of statements made by Minister Joaquim Barbosa, President of the Supreme Federal Court, regarding Constitutional Amendment Proposal 544, from 2002, recently approved by the National Congress, which establishes four new Regional Federal Courts.

These statements, made at a meeting with the presidents of three magistrates' associations (AMB, Ajufe and Anamatra), reiterate the minister's excessive criticism of the creation of said Courts. 

The following excerpts from that statement are particularly striking: "The courts will serve to provide employment for lawyers..."; "and they will be created in resorts, on some large beach..."; "it was a negotiation done secretly, surreptitiously."

The Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) considers it its duty to refute and repudiate such statements, as they are inaccurate, irrelevant, and offensive to the valued class of lawyers. In truth, the Constitutional Amendment in question has been under consideration in the National Congress since 2002, having followed the proper legislative process, with the widest possible transparency. Furthermore, it resulted from a long-standing and legitimate aspiration of those subject to the law in our country and had the support of the Brazilian Bar Association. 

By approving Constitutional Amendment Proposal 544/2002, after holding public hearings and intense parliamentary debate, the National Congress exercised, with considerable and just reasons, the derived constituent power, which is exclusive and non-delegable to it.

It makes no sense, nor does it correspond to the relevance of the topic, to assume that the creation of new Regional Federal Courts aims to create jobs, much less for lawyers. At no point was there any intention to favor the legal profession or to pursue interests other than the improvement of the Federal Justice system in Brazil.

The matter deserves to be addressed in other terms, respecting the independence of the branches of government and the dignity of the bodies and associations that strive for the best administration of justice in the country.