Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) is holding accountable a judge from Goiás who annulled a gay marriage.
Supreme Court justices attack magistrate's position; for Luiz Fux, the decision is an outrage.
The ministers of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) reacted strongly against the decision of Judge Jerônymo Pedro Villas Boas, of the 1st Public Treasury Court of Goiânia (GO), to annul the civil union contract between a homosexual couple. This decision could be overturned by the STF if there is a formal challenge to the matter. The most forceful criticism came from Minister Luiz Fux. According to him, the Goiânia judge's action could be reviewed by disciplinary bodies of the Judiciary. For Fux, his decision could be considered "an outrage" subject to review.
"If he went against the understanding of the Supreme Court, I understand this as an attack on the Supreme Court's decision, which is subject to annulment through a complaint," he stated. The minister emphasized that a complaint is a recourse available when there is a breach of a Supreme Court decision. "The most important thing is that his decision be revoked to allow that same-sex couple to formalize a civil union," Fux added.
"The judge is independent, but from the moment the Supreme Court established a binding legal precedent for all of Brazil, all judges must comply with it under penalty of contempt of court," he stated. "Complaints always leave a functional residue. Therefore, they are always referred to disciplinary bodies so that judicial autonomy does not harm the people."
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes stated today that there will certainly be a complaint filed with the Court regarding Judge Jerônymo's order. In May, the Supreme Court justices ruled that same-sex couples have the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples under Brazilian law.
"I don't know the elements that led to this decision, let's wait. Certainly, there will be an appeal to the Supreme Federal Court and then there will be a pronouncement on the matter," he said, while participating in the seminar "Cycle of Reforms of the Code of Civil Procedure," at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), in the capital of São Paulo.
Mendes considered it normal for "one or two cases" to conflict with the Supreme Court's decision. "We cannot cover all situations," he said. The minister also said that it is "very unlikely" that the Supreme Court's position on same-sex unions will be reversed and stressed that it is up to the National Congress to regulate the issue. "What the Supreme Court said is that, if we assess the diversity of legal arguments, it is reasonable to extract the idea of a stable union from the constitutional text," he stated.