With Vacancies in 20 Percent of Its Courts, Brazil Has Deficit of 4,400 Judges

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One in every five judicial benches in Brazil is vacant, according to data from the National Council of Justice (CNJ). According to the body, in 2018 there were approximately 18,000 magistrates in office and some 4,400 vacant positions.

The majority (69 percent) are in the state courts, which show a 22 percent vacancy rate. In the federal courts, which has just over 1,900 judges, the vacancy rate is 24 percent.

The lack of magistrates is one of the obstacles to the implementation of the so-called “judge of guarantees” created by the anti-crime package. This position requires at least two working magistrates in criminal cases, and in 20 percent of the district courts, there is only one magistrate.

Despite the vacancies, the number of judges in Brazil has grown 14 percent since 2009. Judiciary expenses, on the other hand, have decreased.

Approximately R$109.1 billion (US$28 billion) was spent in 2009. In 2018, expenses dropped to R$93.7 billion.

That year, an average of 1,668 new cases for each magistrate reached the state courts. In the federal courts, where most of the Lava Jato cases are processed, the backlog is higher: 2,090 cases.

In both branches of the judiciary, there were over 70 million unsolved cases in 2018.

In the federal courts, the congestion rate, which gauges the percentage of pending cases in relation to what was processed, stood at 86 percent. The rate has increased since 2012, when it stood at 78 percent.

In the state courts, the situation is most severe in Santa Catarina, with a rate of 82.1 percent. Roraima had the country’s lowest rate: 53.5 percent.

On average, a criminal case takes three years and ten months to reach a decision in the state trial courts. In Rio Grande do Sul, the average length of the process is eight years. In the Federal District, the average is 11 months.