Flávio Dino was appointed to a seat on the Supreme Court in November 2023 by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president under whom he served as justice minister. He takes office today at a time when the court’s decisions have become a fundamental part of the political calculations of the government and Congress.
Given this intersection between the political and legal spheres, Mr. Dino’s career as a politician may say a lot about how he will behave on the Supreme Court.
Mr. Dino’s résumé includes a stint as a federal judge, a spell as a congressman for his home state of Maranhão, and two terms as governor. He was a member of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and later switched to the more centrist Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB).
Mr. Dino was elected to a seat in the Senate in 2022, but barely had time to move into his new office before he was appointed justice minister. Now, in the transition from the cabinet to the country’s highest court, Mr. Dino did work as a senator for a few weeks — enough time for him to propose a number of bills related to the justice system.
The politician’s arrival at the court, with the support of other justices, comes at a time when the government has made no secret of its desire to strengthen relations with the court to compensate for the difficulties it has faced in Congress.
Avoiding or reversing political defeats with judicial measures has become a crucial feature of the Lula administration’s modus operandi. To replace Mr. Dino in the Justice Ministry, Lula chose Ricardo Lewandowski, who spent the last 17 years as a Supreme Court justice.
Last year, the Supreme Court itself faced a series of pressures from members of Congress who, dissatisfied with some of the court’s decisions, began discussing proposals to limit the powers of the justices.
House and Senate members, particularly those associated with the far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, claim that the Supreme Court has overstepped Congress’s authority and is effectively trying to legislate. With several aspects of their far-right political platform being ruled unconstitutional, they also claim that the justices are acting ideologically to benefit the left.
In this polarized political environment, Mr. Dino is strongly opposed by Bolsonaro supporters, even though he is conservative on some issues. For example, he opposes the idea of the Supreme Court decriminalizing abortion and drug possession — two issues on the court’s docket.
A Catholic, he decided to celebrate his inauguration at the Supreme Court with...
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