Brazilian senate passes constitutional amendment bill curbing power of supreme court justices to decide issues individually

By Anthony Boadle, 30 November 2023
Brazilian Senate (photo credit: The Brazilian Report)
Brazilian Senate (photo credit: The Brazilian Report)
Brazil's Senate took the lead on [22 November] to curb what lawmakers see as judicial overreach by the country's Supreme Court and passed a constitutional amendment that limits the ability of justices to rule on issues individually. The bill, that still needs lower chamber approval, stipulates that laws or measures decided by Brazil's Congress can only be overruled by the full plenary of the top court or a chamber of justices and not by just one of them. The amendment also sets deadlines for deciding cases when judges ask for more time to study the issues and requires that such requests be collectively and not individually made. The bill passed by a wide margin of 52-18 votes in two rounds of voting required for constitutional amendments. The legislation is part of a backlash by a conservative-led Congress against a judiciary that played a decisive role in containing attacks on Brazil's democratic voting system by former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Read the full article here: Reuters

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