Brazil’s Lula Says Presidents Should Not Pick Supreme Court Justices Alone
BRAZIL · SUPREME COURT
Key Facts
- —The country Brazil, with about 213 million people, is Latin America’s largest economy. Its Supreme Federal Court has 11 seats, rules on the constitution and on tax disputes, and tries sitting politicians. Justices serve until 75.
- —The background The president picks justices and the Senate must confirm them. On 29 April the Senate rejected Lula’s choice, Jorge Messias, by 42 votes to 34, the first rejection since 1894. One seat has been empty since October 2025.
- —Why now The Banco Master banking scandal has drawn in several justices, and 47 percent of Brazilians now rate their work bad or very bad, the worst since 2019. Lula faces voters on 4 October.
- —What happened In a television interview broadcast on Sunday 27 September, Lula said “it cannot be only the president who nominates” and floated a council, with civil society involved, to vet names before they go to the Senate.
- —Who is who Lula named four of the ten sitting justices, including his former lawyer Cristiano Zanin and former justice minister Flávio Dino. His main challenger is Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
- —What it means for you Nothing changes now. For investors, the court settles tax and regulatory cases, so who sits on it, and how they are chosen, shapes how predictable Brazil is.
- —Still open Who would sit on the council, whether it would bind the president, and whether any written proposal will follow the campaign remark.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says Brazil’s president should no longer choose Supreme Court justices alone. A week before the election, he floated a council that would vet candidates before the Senate votes.
The idea came in a television interview, not a bill, and Lula gave no detail on how the council would work. It marks a turn from May, when he insisted the choice was his.
What Lula said
Lula spoke on Canal Livre, a Sunday interview programme on the Band television network, broadcast on 27 September. “It cannot be only the president who nominates,” he said, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
The choice should not be “only the will of the president or of the OAB”, Brazil’s bar association, he added. Instead, a nominee should pass “the scrutiny of a collegiate body, which we will have to think about how to create”.
Those words were quoted by the news site Poder360. Lula said civil society must be involved.
According to Poder360, Lula said the council should assess names before the president sends them to the Senate. He did not say who would sit on it; Estadão quoted him mentioning “notables”, unions and business groups.
He also explained his change of heart, contrasting nominating a justice with the moment “he puts on the robe”. Then: “When the guy puts on the robe, he becomes God.”
Folha reported that he again backed fixed terms for justices instead of service until 75, an idea he has raised before.
How Brazil picks its top judges now
The system resembles the American one. The president nominates, a Senate committee questions the candidate, and the full Senate votes.
Approval needs an absolute majority, 41 of the 81 senators, whoever turns up. Candidates must be aged between 35 and 70, with “notable legal knowledge and spotless reputation”, in the constitution’s words.
For 132 years the Senate approved every nominee. That ended on 29 April, when senators rejected Messias, the government’s chief lawyer, by 42 votes to 34.
The seat he was meant to fill, left by Justice Luís Roberto Barroso in October 2025, is still empty. On 29 May Lula said he would send Messias again: “I am the one who nominates,” he said then, according to g1.
Why he says it now
The court is in the worst standing it has had in years. Datafolha polling on 22–23 September found 47 percent rate the justices’ work bad or very bad, the worst since 2019.
Much of that follows the Banco Master affair: police files show the failed bank’s jailed former owner in contact with several justices. Justice Alexandre de Moraes denies wrongdoing; Lula said on Sunday that everyone involved must be investigated.
He also criticised televised court sessions, where justices have clashed openly. “The justices talk too much, give too many interviews; they should speak only in the case files,” he told the programme, per Estadão.
Lula has named four of the ten sitting justices across his three terms. Those include Zanin, his personal lawyer in the corruption cases later annulled, and Dino, his former justice minister, both appointed since 2023.
What it would take
Nothing stops a president from consulting advisers before choosing. A council that binds the president would be different: it would mean amending the constitution.
That requires three-fifths of both chambers in two rounds each: 308 of 513 deputies and 49 of 81 senators. At least 84 proposals to reshape the court already sit in Congress, most for years.
Lula’s own Workers’ Party filed one on 11 September. It sets terms of up to ten years for top-court justices, Poder360 reported, but keeps the rules on who nominates and approves.
What comes next
Brazil votes on 4 October, with a runoff on 25 October if nobody wins a majority. Whoever wins could fill as many as four seats by the end of 2030: the vacancy, plus three justices who reach 75.
That makes the method of choosing them a live question for the next term. Lula has not said whether he would use a council for the current vacancy or still send Messias.
The remark does not mean a reform is coming. There is no bill, no design and no timetable, and Lula keeps his full power to nominate.
It also does not mean the court’s make-up changes before the vote. The empty seat stays empty until a president sends a name and the Senate approves it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are Brazil’s Supreme Court justices chosen today?
The president nominates a candidate aged 35 to 70, and the Senate must approve by an absolute majority of 41 of its 81 members. Justices then serve until the mandatory retirement age of 75.
What exactly did Lula propose?
He said the choice should not be the president’s alone and floated a council, with civil society involved, to vet candidates before they reach the Senate. He gave no details and has not put it in writing.
Could a council be created without changing the constitution?
A president can voluntarily consult an advisory panel. Making its vetting binding would require a constitutional amendment, which needs three-fifths of both chambers of Congress in two rounds.
Why is there an empty seat on the court?
Justice Luís Roberto Barroso retired in October 2025. The Senate rejected Lula’s nominee, Jorge Messias, on 29 April 2026, and no new nomination has been sent.
Sources: Poder360, Lula on Canal Livre, 27 September 2026, Folha de S.Paulo, Lula backs council and terms for justices, 27 September 2026, Estadão, Lula wants to change the nomination criteria, 27 September 2026, Agência Senado, Messias nomination rejected, 29 April 2026, Agência Senado, president may send a new nomination, 30 April 2026, g1, Lula says he will resend Messias, 29 May 2026, Constitution of Brazil, articles 60 and 101. All retrieved 28 September 2026.
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