Legal expert Lenio Streck: Cármen Lúcia violates the Constitution.

247 - Jurist Lenio Luiz Streck, one of the most respected in the country, states categorically: "The discretionary power held by Minister Cármen Lúcia is unconstitutional. The Court's Internal Regulations violate the Constitution. Nowhere in the world does the president of the Supreme Court have this power to put a case on the agenda. Now, a Declaratory Action of Constitutionality is, in itself, a fundamental precept. Therefore, by not putting this ADC [regarding the presumption of innocence and imprisonment after judgment in the second instance] on the agenda, as well as the others, the Presidency of the STF violates a fundamental precept."

Streck is a professor of Constitutional Law at Unisinos and holds a post-doctoral degree from the University of Lisbon. He was one of the 250 jurists and lawyers who launched a manifesto against Edson Fachin's maneuver to avoid a vote on an appeal that could free Lula.hereHe gave an interview to reporter Rodrigo Martins, from the magazine. Capital letter with strong criticism of the recent trajectory of the Judiciary. "The problem in Brazil is that the prevailing thesis is that the law is what the courts say it is," he laments. "Therefore, the law is worth less than what the Judiciary says. That is why I affirm that, today, defending legality in Brazil is a revolutionary act."

In Brazil, the jurist states, "the law is being replaced by the moral and political judgments of judges. As a result, the Constitution is worth less than the opinion of a minister or a judge, or a member of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. For years I have been warning that, in a democracy, the law must prevail over subjectivist opinions and assessments."

Minister José Roberto Barroso, a leader of the Lava Jato operation in the Supreme Court, is considered by Streck as an "unusual" case and a target of international discredit: "We have reached the point where Minister Barroso argues that, between the voice of the streets and the voice of the Constitution, the Supreme Court should side with the voice of the streets. He also says that the Supreme Court should be the enlightened vanguard of the country. This is unusual. The world's leading constitutionalists disagree with this thesis. The problem in Brazil is that the thesis that prevailed is that Law is what the courts say it is. Therefore, Law is worth less than what the Judiciary says. For this reason, I affirm that, today, defending legality in Brazil is a revolutionary act."

You can read the full interview. here.