President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party) nominated lawyer Cristiano Zanin for the vacant seat left by former Minister Ricardo Lewandowski at the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF). Lula met this Thursday afternoon (1) with the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil Party), to forward the nomination to the collegiate.
Now, the lawyer will undergo a sabbatine with congressmen from the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission, which includes, for example, Sergio Moro (União Brasil Party) and Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party). If the nomination is accepted by the collegiate, the name will be evaluated by the plenary of the House, where it needs to be approved by at least 41 of the 81 members.
The vote should pass favorably with no major obstacles. President Alcolumbre made it clear that he will not postpone the meeting, as happened during the appointment of Minister André Mendonça at the Constitution and Justice Commission, when there was a five-month postponement.
Who is Cristiano Zanin?
The lawyer represented Lula during the Car Wash Operation and established an expressive proximity with the President of the Republic during his prison period, from April 2018 to November 2019.
The performance in Lula’s cases granted Zanin a national projection. It was the lawyer, for example, who filed the habeas corpus request in 2021 at the Federal Supreme Court, resulting in the annulment of the current president's convictions. The action pointed to the incompetence and partiality of the then judge Sérgio Moro.
Zanin also has experience in the areas of business, economics and corporate law. At the beginning of his career, he worked on airline bankruptcy cases, such as the negotiation of the acquisition of the assets of Brazilian company Varig by the Volo consortium, made up of an American fund.
Zanin has also always dealt, in articles and interviews, with themes related to corporate litigation and the abusive use of legal mechanisms, known as "lawfare". In 2007, the lawyer defended the expansion of the limit of foreign investment in Brazilian airlines, an issue that until then suffered resistance within the Workers' Party.
Today Zanin has his own law firm and acts in the defense of companies such as Americanas, in judicial recovery, and J&F, the holding company of the brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, who seek to review the leniency agreement within the scope of operations Carne Fraca and Car Wash.
Supreme Court justices approve Zanin's nomination
For the current members of the Supreme Court, the nomination was positive. The dean of the STF (that is, the oldest justice), Gilmar Mendes, used Twitter to demonstrate his traditionally far-fetched vocabulary and praise the "joyful news" of Lula's nomination of the "brilliant lawyer.
Other justices were approached by journalists to comment on the name of the probable new colleague. For Luiz Fux, the appointment was "great". Luís Roberto Barroso wished him a warm welcome, and said Zanin is a "serious and competent" lawyer.
Even Jair Bolsonaro's nominees to the Supreme Court spoke complimentary words. Justice Nunes Marques said that the nomination is "great, very good". André Mendonça, in turn, wished Zanin success in the trial and voting in the Senate, and said he believes Lula's nominee meets the criteria for the vacancy.
Edited by: Flávia Chacon
