Upon leaving the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski will leave a streamlined caseload for his successor.
The minister, who announced his retirement, has the fourth smallest caseload at the Supreme Court. He is expected to be replaced by lawyer Cristiano Zanin, likely nominated by Lula.
By Tiago Angelo, Conjur - Ricardo Lewandowski, who announced his retirement from his position as a Justice of the Supreme Federal Court. For next Tuesday (April 11th), he will leave a small collection for his successor.
At the end of last year, the minister only had 1.059 cases. Since then, Lewandowski has further reduced the number of cases: there were 782 as of Wednesday afternoon (April 5th), making his caseload the fourth smallest in the Supreme Court, behind only those of Cármen Lúcia, Alexandre de Moraes, and Rosa Weber.
Approximately 500 of the 782 cases have been decided and are awaiting only certification of the final judgment and referral back to the first instance court. Almost all the rest are stalled, awaiting the resolution of precedents in plenary judgments.
"My office is practically empty, there are only a few cases pending administrative decisions," Lewandowski told reporters on March 30, when he announced his retirement.
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The remaining and important cases under the minister's purview are already scheduled for analysis in the Virtual Plenary, including those that decide on the criteria for distributing leftover seats in proportional elections (ADIs 7.228, 7.263 and 7.325).
The referendum on the minister's injunction suspending a section of the State-Owned Enterprises Law that restricts the appointment of board members and directors began to be analyzed on Friday (March 31), but was suspended at the request of Dias Toffoli. Lewandowski's vote, however, will be counted even if the case is only resumed after his retirement (ADI 7.331).
However, the situation regarding Rcl 43.007 remains undefined. This case originally concerned a request from the defense of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to access conversations between prosecutors from the defunct "Lava Jato" operation in Curitiba and former judge Sergio Moro.
In the same process, the minister declared the Odebrecht leniency agreement invalid in cases against Lula. However, other targets of "Lava Jato" have filed requests for extensions. Some of these requests have not yet been judged.
The online magazine Counsel It has been determined that the minister is analyzing all pending extension requests. It is possible, however, that some will be left to Lewandowski's successor. If it is Cristiano Zanin, Lula's lawyer, the case should be reassigned, since he is the plaintiff.
The case of lawyer Tacla Duran, recently sent to the Supreme Court, may also fall to Lewandowski's successor. Duran says he was the target of "procedural bullying" by Moro and the former coordinator of "Lava Jato," Deltan Dallagnol.
In testimony before the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, the lawyer stated that he was extorted during the operation to avoid being arrested. He cited Moro and Dallagnol, who, now members of parliament, have parliamentary immunity. Lewandowski sent the case to the Attorney General's Office for its opinion. The proceedings are under seal.