Brazilian Judges Are Paid Far Above the Legal Cap. Their Courts See No Problem
Rule of Law
Key Facts
—The ceiling. No Brazilian public servant may earn above R$46,366.19 ($9,000) a month. It is written into the constitution.
—The summons. On July 6 four Supreme Court justices gave seven state courts forty-eight hours to explain payments above it.
—The threat. Court presidents were warned that failure to answer could mean immediate removal from office and criminal liability.
—The reply. Every court that has answered denies any breach, attributing large sums to leave, retirement settlements and bonuses excluded from the cap.
—The scale. Broadcaster CNN Brasil counted at least R$722.8m ($140m) in extra payments by state courts across May and June alone.
—The outlier. Some magistrates were reported to be receiving amounts which, combined, reach R$495,000 — more than ten times the ceiling.
The STF penduricalhos ruling was meant to end four decades of Brazilian judges paying themselves around their own salary cap. Three months on, seven state courts have been summoned to explain, and all say they did nothing wrong.
The word penduricalhos translates as dangling trinkets. In Brazil it means the allowances, bonuses and back-pay that judges classify as compensation rather than salary, placing them outside a constitutional limit.
That limit stands at forty-six thousand three hundred and sixty-six reais a month, about nine thousand dollars. It is set by the salary of a Supreme Court justice, and nobody in the Brazilian state may lawfully go above it.
What the STF penduricalhos ruling actually did
On March 25 the Supreme Court adopted a binding thesis governing judicial and prosecutorial pay. It reaffirmed the ceiling and banned new allowances without a specific federal law passed by Congress.
Three named perks went: meal aid, housing aid and compensation for case backlogs. Authorised extras were capped at thirty-five percent of the ceiling, and courts were ordered to publish each magistrate’s earnings monthly.
The rules applied from the April base month, hitting pay packets in May. Sums recognised before February were suspended pending audit, and managers were made personally liable for compliance.
This newspaper reported in June that the same court then voted to release much of that suspended retroactive money. The March framework tightened; the June judgment loosened.
Then the numbers arrived
A report in the newspaper Folha revealed that state courts had carried on paying above the parameters. Broadcaster CNN Brasil, using the judiciary’s own pay portal, put the extra payments at a minimum of seven hundred and twenty-two million reais across May and June.
Those two months were the first in which the new rules practically applied. Some magistrates were reported to be receiving amounts which, added together, reach four hundred and ninety-five thousand reais. That is more than ten times the constitutional ceiling.
Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin and Gilmar Mendes moved on July 6. They summoned the presidents of the courts of the Federal District, Goiás, Maranhão, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte and Rondônia.
The demand was itemised payrolls for April through July, naming every active judge, retiree and pensioner. Failure to comply, the order warned, could bring immediate removal from office and criminal, civil and disciplinary liability.
How the courts answered the STF penduricalhos ruling
Not one admitted a breach. The courts told the justices they had observed the parameters closely, and attributed the larger sums to indemnities and settlements permitted under the rules themselves.
The Federal District court said its biggest payments were mandatory settlements for two retiring judges with accumulated unused leave. It added that it had consulted the national judicial oversight body about how to apply the new rules.
Maranhão conceded six cases above the parameters, all in May, and said they involved holiday bonuses and the thirteenth-month salary, which it considers exempt. Rio de Janeiro said its April to June payrolls respected the limits closely.
Rondônia pointed to the oversight council’s own portal, which it said showed no irregularity. Goiás, Paraná and Rio Grande do Norte had not answered when the responses were reported.
Why this matters beyond the pay slips
A constitutional ceiling is being tested by the very institution charged with enforcing it. The courts do not claim the rule is wrong; they claim their payments fall outside it.
That is the mechanism the whole system runs on. Label the money compensation rather than salary and the cap disappears. This is why studies put Brazil’s above-ceiling public pay at around twenty billion reais a year.
For a foreign investor the read is about credibility rather than cost. A judiciary with the final word on tax and spending rules is also judging the limits of its own pay, and its lower courts have just replied that no limit was crossed.
The four justices will now examine the payrolls. What happens next tells you whether the March thesis was a rule or a recommendation.
What are penduricalhos?
They are supplementary payments to Brazilian judges and prosecutors, for things such as unused holidays, extra duties or back pay. They are classified as indemnities rather than salary, so they sit outside the constitutional pay ceiling. The word means dangling trinkets, and the practice allows total earnings far above the limit while the limit is formally respected.
Did the seven courts break the rules?
That has not been determined. Every court that has replied denies any breach and says the larger payments came from leave settlements, retirement entitlements and bonuses it considers exempt from the cap. The Supreme Court justices are now examining the itemised payrolls they demanded.
How much does this cost Brazil?
Broadcaster CNN Brasil counted at least seven hundred and twenty-two million reais in extra payments by state courts in May and June alone. Academic studies cited in earlier reporting estimate that public pay above Brazil’s legal ceiling costs roughly twenty billion reais a year across all branches, with the judiciary the largest single component.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the constitutional salary ceiling for Brazilian public servants, and what are 'penduricalhos'?
No Brazilian public servant may earn above R$46,366.19 (approximately $9,000) per month, a limit written into the constitution. 'Penduricalhos,' meaning dangling trinkets, refers to the allowances, bonuses and back-pay that judges classify as compensation rather than salary, which places those payments outside the constitutional cap.
What action did the Supreme Court take against state courts, and what were the consequences for non-compliance?
On July 6, four Supreme Court justices gave seven state courts forty-eight hours to explain payments above the constitutional ceiling. Court presidents were warned that failure to answer could result in immediate removal from office and criminal liability.
How much in extra payments did state courts make, and how did the courts respond to the summons?
CNN Brasil counted at least R$722.8 million ($140 million) in extra payments by state courts across May and June alone, with some magistrates reportedly receiving combined amounts reaching R$495,000, more than ten times the ceiling. Every court that responded denied any breach, attributing the large sums to leave, retirement settlements and bonuses they consider excluded from the cap.
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