Brazil’s Supreme Court suspends Bolsonaro ordinance, maintains surveillance of weapons

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The suspicion that in Brazil it is not the president but the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that (tries) to rule the country has added another piece of the mosaic in the power struggle between Jair Bolsonaro and the top court justices.

The impressive protest of Bolsonaro supporters on September 7, surprising in its size, which among other things pointed to the growing politicization of the STF, has obviously not caused some Justices to change their positions.

Just two days ago (15), an STF Justice, judging a petition for injunction filed by several political parties, suspended the president’s Provisional Measure designed to prevent the removal of content (social media) on the Internet, holding it did not fulfill formal constitutional requirements. On the same day, the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, summarily returned the Provisional Measure to the government, likewise finding it lacking in constitutional requirements.

Yesterday, September 16, came another blow to the President: STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended the ordinance issued by the Army’s Logistics Command to revoke the so-called National Controlled Products Tracking System. In practice, the measure discarded all previous rules that allowed strict control over the circulation of weapons and ammunition.

The decision granting the injunction was made in the context of lawsuits filed by PDT and PSOL political parties, and is still under consideration by the full STF, which must decide whether to uphold or lift the suspension. The hearing is a virtual proceeding (without oral argument), scheduled to begin on Friday 17 with a decision expected by Friday 24.

Moraes said there are no “valid reasons” for the federal government to “refuse to adopt the necessary criteria and procedures” for controlling weapons and their use.”

The Justice’s position has been criticized by federal officials. The Federal Prosecutor General (PGR), Augusto Aras, defended the suspension of the court proceedings, considering that they “have lost their purpose” with the issuance of new regulations governing the issue, published today (17) in the Federal Gazette.

The new ordinances regulate the identification and marking of firearms and the monitoring of incidents involving controlled products. According to the Prosecutor General, the new regulations “eliminate the alleged framework of ambiguity and controversy” that the plaintiffs had pointed out to justify their petition for injunction.

“Monitoring normative acts that promote a substantial change in the normative complex related to the monitoring and tracking of Army controlled products challenged in the petition to fill the alleged normative vacuum cited by the plaintiff as violating fundamental commandments results in an overwhelming loss of subject matter jurisdiction of the claim,” the PGR argued.

In a statement sent last night to Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Federal Solicitor General (AGU) also argued that the new regulations “eliminate the legal interest” in pursuing the claims, making them moot.

“Given the substantial change in the normative complex relevant to the controversies under review, the allegations of violation of the fundamental principle should be extinguished without a decision on the merits,” said Bruno Bianco, the Solicitor General.

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