RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Senate approved, by 57 votes in favor and 10 against, the appointment of conservative Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, 48, to become a Justice of the STF (Federal Supreme Court). He will replace Celso de Mello, who retired this month.
First nominated by Jair Bolsonaro to the Supreme Court, Kassio is now a judge at the 1st Region Federal Appellate Court (TRF-1) and will occupy one of the 11 court seats up to age 75 years. The date of his official inauguration has not yet been defined – it will be published in the Federal Gazette by the President.
The Senate vote was secret, and there was one abstention – another 13 senators were absent from the session.
Earlier, Kassio participated for more than nine hours in a hearing at the Senate CCJ (Commission on Constitution and Justice), in which he responded to questions from senators and explained his position on controversial issues, such as abortion and the Lava Jato operation. The commission’s vote was 22 votes in favor of his appointment and 5 against.
At the CCJ, he also stated that “absolutely nobody interfered” in Bolsonaro’s decision to nominate him for a vacancy in the STF.
In 2021 Bolsonaro will be able to make another appointment to the STF, after the retirement of Minister Marco Aurélio Mello, in July. The president promised to nominate an evangelical for the post – names like Jorge Oliveira, recently approved for a position in the Federal Audit Court (TCU), and Minister of Justice André Mendonça were even cited as eligible for the seat to be occupied now by Kassio.
The last Justice to join the Supreme Court in 2017 was Alexandre de Moraes, who was appointed by then President Michel Temer (MDB). Moraes took the place of Teori Zavascki, who died in a plane crash in January of that year.
In a nod to conservatives, Kassio cited a biblical psalm on the Sabbath and mentioned Catholic education as the source of his “faith in God and in Brazil”.
The judge also claimed to be a “defender of the right to life” when asked about his position regarding the legalization of abortion, but he indicated that he agreed with the existing possibilities for legal abortion: in cases of rape, pregnancies that bring risk of life to the mother, or anencephaly.
Asked about Lava Jato, Kassio said he recognized the merits of the operation in fighting corruption but said that “corrections can be made” if irregularities are found.
The judge defined himself as a “guarantor” judge – one zealous of defendants’ constitutional rights – but stated that the term is not the same as taking a position contrary to the fight against corruption.