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Freemasonry Scandal: STF reinstates one judge and keeps two away

The judge who managed to annul the PAD had the investigation previously blocked. The other two were considered directly responsible for the administrative offenses.

From the Editor

 

Monday, February 26, 2024

 

The STF, in a virtual plenary session, judged three magistrates punished by the CNJ in the case known as the "Freemasonry Scandal". The plenary determined that one of the judges had the right to be reinstated in office, and the other two maintained the penalty imposed.

 

remember

 

In 2010, the CNJ punished 10 TJ/MT magistrates involved in a scheme to embezzle resources in excess of R$1.4 million with the maximum penalty of compulsory retirement, which became known as the "relief operation at the Grande  store" or " Scandal" of Freemasonry.

 

 

 

Judges involved in the Freemasonry case go to the STF to resume their positions.  Coutinho/STF)

Penalty dismissed

 

To the STF, Lima Fernandes asked to return to his position. He alleged that the penalty imposed was disproportionate, given the factual and legal circumstances abstracted from the specific case, including the shelving of the criminal investigation and the civil investigation into administrative improbity.

 

Rapporteur, minister Nunes Marques cited the judgment of RMS 24,699, in which minister Cezar Peluso stated that the imputation of a culpable action, without harm, to an employee with more than twenty years of public service, without any punishment, is absolutely illegal, because it contradicts law 8,112, and the application of the penalty of dismissal is disproportionate to the gravity and nature of the offense.

 

The minister highlighted that reading the CNJ ruling reveals a diversity of conduct attributed to the numerous indicted magistrates. "However, the body ended up applying the same penalty to the judges involved, that is, compulsory retirement with proportional benefits", he highlighted.

 

Nunes Marques also cited MSs 28.712, 28.812, 28.892, 28.799, 28.802 and 28.743, in which the Supreme Court declared the nullity of the sanctions applied by the CNJ to other magistrates in the same case, guaranteeing them the right to be reinstated.

 

According to Nunes Marques, once the PADs of judges in situations similar to the author's have been annulled, it would be unreasonable to conclude differently.

 

"In this scenario, I understand that there is no coherence between the very serious penalty applied ( compulsory retirement) and the conclusions - factual and legal - drawn up in the criminal investigation and in the civil investigation into administrative improbity, both archived by Parquet. In my opinion, the situation reveals disproportionality between the author's conduct, the circumstances highlighted and the sanction imposed."

 

In light of this, he voted to uphold the request to declare the nullity of the sanction imposed on the CNJ, guaranteeing the magistrate the right to be reinstated in office.

 

See Nunes Marques' vote .

The plenary decision was unanimous.

 

Process : AO 2,425

Penalty maintained

 

The ministers also analyzed two other requests from judges penalized in the same case, Marcelo de Souza Barros (AO 2,668) and José Ferreira (ADO 2,669).

 

Rapporteur Nunes Marques voted in the same direction.

 

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, on the other hand, disagreed by considering that the magistrates were directly responsible for administrative offenses, with complete control over the release of funds and the method of distribution among the TJ/MT magistrates.

 

"They were mainly responsible for the administrative irregularities highlighted in the disciplinary process, in addition to appearing at the top of the list among the judges who received the largest amounts related to the events investigated."

 

For Barroso, even if the existence of credits to be received by magistrates or the legality of the calculation criteria applied is discussed, the CNJ ruling was based on the circumstance that the payments occurred in disregard of the control mechanisms of administrative acts, with abuse positions of power and non-compliance with the principles of equality and publicity.

 

As a result, it voted to dismiss the requests as unfounded..

 

Processes : AO 2,668 and AO 2,66