Bolsonaro tells ministers he will nominate André Mendonça to Brazil’s Supreme Court

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro has told ministers that he will nominate André Mendonça, current Federal Solicitor General (AGU) and a former Minister of Justice and Public Security, to fill the vacancy that will open up at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) when Justice Marco Aurélio Mello retires this month, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

At a luncheon with senators from the Vanguard parliamentary bloc in the Senate, Mendonça confirmed Bolsonaro’s appointment and stressed that he was on a “wandering” moment, another source said.

Justice Marco Aurélio will retire on July 12, when he turns 75 years old. Mendonça is an evangelical pastor, and Bolsonaro has promised to appoint a “terribly evangelical” name to the STF.

The nomination of Marco Aurélio’s successor will have to be approved by the Senate after an examination by the House’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ).

Last year, Bolsonaro had already nominated Justice Nunes Marques for the place left by Justice Celso de Mello, who also retired after reaching age 75.

ATTORNEY, PRESBYTERIAN PASTOR, AND POLITICIAN

A career government attorney since 2000, André Luiz de Almeida Mendonça was special advisor to the Minister of the Comptroller General Wagner Rosário from 2016 to 2018, AGU from 2019 to 2020, and Minister of Justice and Public Security from 2020 to 2021. At the end of March 2021, he returned to the position of AGU.

After graduating with a degree in law in 1993 at Law School of Bauru University Center, in São Paulo, Mendonça concluded his specialization in public law at the University of Brasília,  a master’s degree at University of Salamanca, with a thesis about corruption and the rule of law, and received the highest grade for his doctor’s degree thesis Estado de Derecho y Gobernanza Global (“Rechtsstaat and Global Governance”) at the same university. Mendonça is an assistant professor in Salamanca and Getúlio Vargas Foundation.

He also graduated with a degree in theology at Sul American Theological College in Londrina and served as a pastor at the Presbyterian Church of Brazil in Brasília.

He was a lawyer at Petrobras Distribuidora until beginning his career at the Solicitor General’s office (AGU) in 2000. He served as Head of the Solicitor General Office at Londrina, Vice-Principal of the office’s school, coordinator of Disciplinary Measures, and General Auditor.