Judges and politicians unite against Barbosa.

247 – The behavior of the president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Joaquim Barbosa, has displeased both sides. This Thursday, the 1st, a public event in the Senate brought together politicians, representatives of magistrates, and judges to protest against an injunction issued by the minister that suspends the creation of four new regional federal courts in the country. The main objective is to pressure the Supreme Court to overturn the injunction, granted during the judicial recess solely by Barbosa, who had already positioned himself against the TRF proposal.

Promoted by the Mixed Parliamentary Front for the Creation of the four Regional Federal Courts, the event was marked by harsh criticism of Barbosa. According to Congressman André Vargas (PT-PR), acting Speaker of the House, he "does not behave" like a head of state. "It is very strange that the president of the CNJ or the STF would uphold a preliminary injunction or a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) that prevents the democratization of the Judiciary. We have to talk to the ministers. Overturning this injunction is to expand justice for Brazilians."

The chairman of the group, Congressman Amauri Teixeira (PT-BA), said that the injunction suspending the installation of the Regional Federal Courts "does not contribute to the democratic rule of law" and was taken in a "mistaken" way. "The president of the Supreme Court made threats, blackmail, and used numbers that are not true," Teixeira emphasized. Another critic was Senator Sérgio Souza (PMDB-PR), who is also a member of the group. According to him, "we all know that Barbosa had a side in this case." The president of the Supreme Court was already a fierce critic of the proposal before judging the action.

A prominent representative of the magistrates present at the event was the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Raquel Dodge, who, in defense of the new courts, emphasized the need to reduce the backlog of cases and that there are already cases being dismissed due to the enormous amount of work. "Where there is no judge, it is difficult for citizens to have their rights guaranteed. If the courts and judges are overwhelmed with cases, access to justice is compromised. The current design of the courts does not meet the needs," she argued.

In the preliminary injunction granted by Barbosa during the recess, the president of the Supreme Court justifies that the proposal should have originated from the Judiciary, not the Legislative branch, as was the case, and that there will be an expenditure of R$ 8 billion for the creation of the courts in Curitiba (Paraná), Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais), Salvador (Bahia), and Manaus (Amazonas). Parliamentarians refute this figure, stating that the annual cost could be as low as R$ 512 million, based on a study by Ipea.