Justice Luiz Fux will take over the presidency of the Second Panel of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) when the court returns from recess in August, placing him in charge of the panel responsible for trials linked to the Master case.
The change follows the STF’s internal rotation rules. Each panel is led for one year by the most senior justice among its members who has not yet held the position. Fux will replace Justice Gilmar Mendes, according to single-source reporting from CNN Brasil.
Why the Role Matters
The president of an STF panel organizes its work, sets trial agendas and decides when each case will be heard. In practical terms, the position can influence the pace of proceedings, either by speeding up or delaying the analysis of specific matters.
The panel president also opens and closes sessions, leads debates and enforces procedural rules so that lawyers, parties and justices can present their arguments. That administrative authority matters because the Master case is expected to face further investigative and procedural steps in 2026 and 2027, including during Brazil’s election period.
The Master case has already exposed tensions inside the Second Panel, especially between Mendes and Justice André Mendonça, the case’s rapporteur. In Brazil’s higher courts, the rapporteur is the justice assigned to lead a case, prepare decisions and guide its procedural path.
Friction on the Panel
Mendes has been the most visible critic of Mendonça’s handling of the case. In an interview with TV Cultura’s Roda Viva, he criticized Mendonça’s alleged role in negotiations over a plea bargain involving banker Daniel Vorcaro.
“The law does not allow the rapporteur or the judge to take part in the plea bargain,” Mendes said, according to CNN Brasil.
Mendes said such agreements should be negotiated between prosecutors or the Federal Police and the person cooperating with investigators. CNN Brasil reported that people close to Mendonça and interlocutors at the STF were surprised by the intensity of Mendes’s criticism.
The strain had already appeared during a judgment on the detention of Henrique Vorcaro, Daniel Vorcaro’s father. Mendes was isolated when he argued for replacing preventive detention with house arrest, while also criticizing what he described as similarities between the Master case and Operation Car Wash, the major anti-corruption investigation that began in 2014.
Fux’s Position
Fux originally sat on the STF’s First Panel and took part in the trial that sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party (PL), to 27 years and three months in prison. CNN Brasil reported that Fux cast a vote lasting more than 14 hours and was the only justice to favor Bolsonaro’s acquittal.
That position drew criticism behind the scenes from part of the court, according to CNN Brasil. Before the case reached final judgment, Fux asked to move to another panel.
Fux was known for a strict approach in Operation Car Wash cases. After the Bolsonaro trial, CNN Brasil said he came to be identified as more rights-protective in criminal procedure. In the Master case, however, he has upheld decisions by Mendonça, especially on preventive detentions ordered during the investigation.
His arrival as president may therefore change the working dynamic of the Second Panel. Mendes’s presidency has been marked by frequent disagreements with Mendonça; Fux has so far aligned more often with the rapporteur on key procedural points.