浪花直播

The untimely passing of Minister Teori Zavascki, of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal, has added to the challenges of a country shaken by a prolonged crisis. One of eleven members of Brazil鈥檚 Supreme Court, Justice Zavascki was charged with overseeing the federal criminal investigation into the massive corruption scheme involving state oil company Petrobras during the Workers Party administrations of presidents Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. His death on January 19, 2017 at the age of 68 leaves much yet undone. Minister Teori was traveling to Paraty, a historic seaside town on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro when the small plane he was on crashed while approaching the landing strip. Ongoing investigations by the Brazilian Air Force have not indicated foul play was involved in the tragic event.  

鈥淢inister Zavascki was a national hero for the manner in which he dealt with the very difficult and complex case." 

鈥� Sergio Moro, the 44 year old federal judge who has led the investigations from their start in March 2014 (and who spoke at the 浪花直播 Center in July 2016). 

鈥淛ustice Zavascki was an icon of the Judiciary鈥is loss is not Brazil鈥檚 alone.  It is a loss for all of us everywhere who believe in the independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law.鈥� 

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, in a tribute to the Brazilian magistrate (available below). Messitte, also Director of the Brazil-U.S. Legal and Judicial Studies Program at the American University Washington College of Law, participated last November with Zavascki and Justice Gilmar Mendes in a morning of lectures held by the 浪花直播 Center鈥檚 Brazil Institute on the Rule of Law in South America鈥檚 largest democracy. Appointed to the Court by former President Dilma Rousseff in 2012, Justice Zavascki was expected to release next month thousands of pages of testimony made under plea bargain agreements by 77 executives of construction giant Odebrecht鈥攐nly one of more than a dozen companies implicated in crimes committed around the world, including in the United States.  On December 21 of last year, Odebrecht and subsidiary Braskem pleaded guilty and agreed to pay at least $3.5 billion in global penalties, in what the U.S. Justice Department described as the in history.  With the Brazilian Supreme Court in summer recess, Chief Justice C谩rmen L煤cia Antunes Rocha has instructed the auxiliary judges who were assisting Zavascki to continue to work on the federal investigation. Three dozen politicians, including members of the House and Senate, are expected to be indicted and tried by the Supreme Court as a consequence of the 鈥淟ava Jato,鈥� as the case is popularly known. More than 200 business executives and politicians, including the former president and CEO of Odebrecht, Marcelo Odebrecht, have or are currently serving jail time. The coming publication of the confessions by the Odebrecht executives, likely to implicate other figures involved in the scheme, has fed apprehension among political leaders. Yet the  investigations, which are overwhelmingly supported in public opinion surveys, has become emblematic of Brazil鈥檚 resolve and growing institutional capacity to confront the systemic nature of political and corporate corruption that has plagued its performance since the country鈥檚 return to democracy in the mid-1980s, after two decades of authoritarian rule. Minister Zavascki鈥檚 professionalism and dedication were key components of that institutional strength, leaving many wondering what will come next. Minister C谩rmen L煤cia, a well-regarded judge and the second woman to preside over the Supreme Court, is likely to accept the request made by Attorney General and chief prosecutor Rodrigo Janot to conclude with 鈥渦rgency鈥� the review of the Odebrecht plea confessions. President Michel Temer is expected to fill Zavascki鈥檚 vacancy in the coming weeks. According to advisors, Temer鈥攁 highly unpopular president鈥攊s aware that any attempt to use Zavascki鈥檚 tragic death as a pretext to water down the investigations would be met with a strong popular reaction.