Toffoli denies retirement of former president of the TJ-PR (Court of Justice of Paraná).
The benefit granted to Clayton Camargo had been requested for health reasons and was initially accepted by the Special Body of the Paraná State Court of Justice; however, a preliminary injunction from the National Justice Ombudsman, Minister Francisco Falcão, suspended the court's decision and kept the judge in his position; he had the support of the Supreme Federal Court.
By Pedro Canário
Counsel - Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli upheld the revocation of the retirement of Judge Clayton Camargo, former president of the Paraná Court of Justice. His retirement had been requested for health reasons and was initially accepted by the Special Body of the Paraná Court of Justice. However, a preliminary injunction from the National Justice Ombudsman, Minister Francisco Falcão, suspended the court's decision and kept the judge in his position.
Camargo is under investigation by the National Council of Justice's internal affairs department for corruption allegations. He spent part of this year on medical leave. When he returned to work, he resigned from the Presidency of the Court of Justice, and the Special Body authorized his voluntary retirement. Clayton claims, however, that the request had already been in process before the corruption allegations and the CNJ investigation surfaced.
On the same day that his retirement request was accepted by the TJ-PR (Court of Justice of Paraná), the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office asked Minister Falcão to suspend the decision of the Paraná Special Body. It alleged that the request was a way for the judge to evade the administrative investigations underway by the National Inspectorate. Minister Falcão accepted the request. The decision to open or not an investigative process against the judge will be made by the CNJ (National Council of Justice) Plenary this Tuesday (October 8th).
To try to overturn Falcão's decision and obtain his retirement, Clayton filed a Writ of Mandamus, with a request for preliminary injunction, in the Supreme Federal Court. He argued that the decision was made illegally, since there is no disciplinary proceeding open against him, only investigations. He also stated that he was not heard beforehand, which, according to him, violated due process, and finally, he argued that the decision "is unenforceable," since his retirement had already been granted by the Court of Justice of Paraná.
However, Justice Dias Toffoli, the rapporteur, refuted all the arguments. He stated that Justice Falcão, as the National Inspector General, is the natural rapporteur for the matter, which involves actions taken by a judge, as mandated by the CNJ's Internal Regulations. And, in that capacity, he has the authority to preliminarily overturn the decision that granted retirement to the judge.
Toffoli also argued that Falcão's decision is justified, as the accusations against the judge are serious. Allowing his removal, Toffoli wrote, would bring the "imminent risk of forfeiture of rights," since retirement could hinder the "normal course of the investigations."
The minister further stated that the suspension of the retirement occurred during a process of which the judge was already aware and had already presented a preliminary defense—and whose opening or not still depends on a decision by the full CNJ (National Council of Justice). “In conclusion, it is worth saying that the facts narrated in this petition are extremely serious and that the petitioner, instead of wishing to retire with pay, should be the most interested party in seeing them fully clarified, if only out of respect for the dignity of the high office of President of the Court of Justice of the State of Paraná, which he once held,” Toffoli concluded.