Brazil’s Supreme Court Entrenches a Shadow Regime of Secrecy and Unchecked Power
By Hotspotnews
In a troubling development that strikes at the heart of democratic accountability, Brazil’s Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) has quietly normalized what began as emergency powers during the heated 2022 presidential election. What was once presented as a temporary necessity to safeguard institutions has now become standard operating procedure: a court operating largely in the dark, where individual justices wield immense authority through secret decisions and hand-picked case assignments that bypass traditional safeguards of impartiality.
A rigorous study by Professor Ivar Hartmann of Insper reveals the extent of this consolidation. The share of criminal investigations decided under secrecy surged to 36 percent in 2022 and has climbed even higher, reaching 46.2 percent in early 2026. Monocratic rulings—decisions handed down by a single minister without full collegial review—now dominate, with nearly 95 percent of final judgments in criminal probes falling into this category. Even more alarming, the distribution of cases increasingly relies on “connection” to an existing rapporteur rather than the constitutionally mandated random electronic sorteio, or lottery system. This practice, which funnels related matters to favored justices, has risen sharply from about 8 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2025.
These mechanisms erode the very foundations of justice. The random assignment of cases exists for a reason: to prevent any single judge or ideological faction from controlling outcomes and to ensure fairness and public confidence. When cases are steered toward specific ministers—often those aligned with the prevailing political winds—the system invites accusations of bias, selective prosecution, and the weaponization of judicial power against dissenters. Secrecy compounds the problem, shielding decisions from scrutiny by the public, the press, and even fellow justices until it is too late to challenge them effectively.
Conservatives have long warned that the STF, under the influence of activist justices, has transformed itself from a guardian of the Constitution into an unelected super-legislature and enforcer of cultural and political orthodoxy. This latest data confirms those fears. Practices justified amid the polarization of the Lula-Bolsonaro contest have not been rolled back in victory; they have been entrenched as the new normal. As Brazil approaches the critical 2026 elections, the Court positions itself to once again intervene decisively—potentially tilting the scales through opaque rulings on censorship, investigations, and electoral matters—while ordinary citizens and opposition voices are left in the shadows.
This is not judicial restraint or prudent governance. It is the institutionalization of arbitrary power, where transparency is sacrificed on the altar of control. The Brazilian people, who cherish liberty and the rule of law, deserve better than a Supreme Court that operates like a star chamber. The concentration of authority in the hands of a few unelected figures risks turning the judiciary into a tool for perpetuating one-sided narratives and suppressing conservative perspectives on issues ranging from free speech to family values and national sovereignty.
True reform is urgently needed. Congress must assert its constitutional oversight role, demanding greater openness, restoring random case distribution, and curtailing the unchecked expansion of monocratic powers. The Brazilian right, rooted in principles of limited government, individual rights, and democratic legitimacy, must lead the charge to reclaim the judiciary from this creeping authoritarian drift. Without bold action, the STF’s regime of secrecy threatens to undermine the very republic it claims to protect, leaving future generations to inherit a hollowed-out democracy where justice is dispensed in secret and power flows not from the people, but from the robes of a self-perpetuating elite.