Source: Agência Brasil - DF - 30/09/2009

Brasília - At the beginning of his sabbath for the vacancy of minister in the Supreme Federal Court, the attorney general of the Union, José Antonio Dias Toffoli, stated that his commitment is to the Brazilian Constitution and stressed that “with humility and honor” he will respond to questions from senators. He goes through sabbatical at the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission.

Toffoli recalled that the Constitution will celebrate 21 years in October and that it was from there that the country and the Brazilian institutions were strengthened. “She solved all problems within the rules of the game. And it is this guarantee of the rules of the game that guarantees legal certainty. It is with legal certainty that we can promote the main objectives that address the development of the nation. ”

Before starting to talk about the history of the Supreme Court in the country, Toffoli paid tribute to Minister Carlos Alberto Menezes Direito, who died last month, and who will occupy the vacancy in the STF.

After the questions, the senators will take a secret ballot to approve or reject the nomination of Toffoli, made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. To pass the committee, you need a majority of the votes, 12 in total. Then there will be a vote, also secret, in plenary, where you need 41 votes to become Minister of the Supreme Federal Court.

Toffoli has been criticized by the opposition for having been a PT lawyer in Lula's presidential campaigns. He also answers the lawsuit in the Amapá Justice for irregularities in the hiring of his law firm to provide services to the state. The effects of the conviction in the state were lifted after he appealed the decision. There are also criticisms of the fact that he failed twice in a public exam for a judge.

The government defends the nomination and says that by assuming the vacancy in the Supreme Court, any party affiliation ends. He also alleges that notorious legal knowledge is acquired through experience, something that, according to the government, Toffoli accumulated throughout his career, mainly as a lawyer-general of the Union, in addition to having acted in important and considered controversial causes, such as credit- Industrialized Products Tax award.