The Federal Supreme Court (STF) will hold this Monday (2) a formal opening session of the Judiciary Year 2026, a ceremony that marks the opening of work after the recess period.
The session is scheduled to start at 2pm and will be attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), and the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP).
The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, and the president of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Beto Simonetti, were also invited and will represent the class of members of the Public Ministry and lawyers.
The meeting of the heads of the Three Powers takes place at a time when the Court is publicly criticized for its conduct of investigations involving fraud at Banco Master.
On Tuesday (27), minister Alexandre de Moraes denied having participated in a meeting with the former president of Banco de Brasília (BRB) Paulo Henrique Costa, in the first half of 2025, at the home of banker Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master.
The alleged meeting was reported by Portal Metrópoles and would have occurred in the midst of the process of attempting to purchase Master by BRB. In a press release, Moraes classified the report as “false and untrue”.
Before Master’s liquidation by the Central Bank, the law firm Barci de Moraes, which belongs to the minister’s family, provided services to Vorcaro’s bank.
At the beginning of this month, Minister Dias Toffoli began to be criticized for remaining as rapporteur of the case after journalistic articles reported that the Federal Police found irregularities in an investment fund linked to Banco Master. The fund purchased a stake in the Tayayá resort, located in Paraná, which was owned by the minister’s family members.
The President of the Court, Minister Edson Fachin, was also criticized for releasing a statement to the press to defend Toffoli’s actions.
Judgments
The first plenary trials in 2026 are scheduled to begin next Wednesday (4), when ministers must decide the validity of rules from the National Council of Justice (CNJ) to limit the use of social media by judges across the country.
On February 11, the Court must judge whether freedom of expression can be limited in cases of damage to honor and image. The case involves a non-governmental organization (NGO) that reported animal abuse at the Festa do Peão de Barretos.
The validity of the adoption of the so-called Escola Sem Partido Program across the country is scheduled for February 19th.
Marielle
The First Panel of the STF scheduled the in-person trial of the criminal action that deals with the murder of councilor Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes, which occurred in 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, for February 24th.
The defendants for their alleged participation in the crime are the counselor of the Court of Auditors of Rio de Janeiro (TCE-RJ) Domingos Brazão, the former federal deputy Chiquinho Brazão, Domingos’ brother, the former head of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro Rivaldo Barbosa, the Major of the Military Police Ronald Alves de Paula and the former military police officer Robson Calixto, Domingos’ advisor. Everyone is in pre-trial detention.
According to the investigation carried out by the Federal Police, Marielle’s murder is related to the parliamentarian’s opposition to the interests of the political group led by the Brazão brothers, who are linked to land issues in areas controlled by militias in Rio.
