ALCANCE E LIMITES DA PROPOSTA DE UM CÓDIGO DE CONDUTAS PARA O SUPREMO TRIBUNAL FEDERAL

Abstract

This article examines the proposal to create a code of conduct for the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court within the context of the Court’s current legitimacy crisis. It argues that, although tensions between the judiciary and the political branches are not historically unprecedented in Brazilian constitutional history, the contemporary crisis has acquired specific features, including the intensification of single-justice decisions, fragmented adjudication, judicial personalism, media overexposure, and suspicions affecting institutional impartiality. Based on an analytical and historical-institutional approach, the article contends that the self-regulatory proposal advanced by Justice Luiz Edson Fachin has institutional relevance not only because of its normative dimension, but also because of its symbolic role, especially by making explicit ethical duties already dispersed throughout the legal system and by expanding possibilities for transparency and accountability. The article also examines the comparative experiences of the United States and Germany, in which high courts have formalized ethical standards in contexts of reputational erosion. It concludes, however, that the creation of a code of conduct, while necessary, is not sufficient by itself to restore the institutional credibility of the Court, making it indispensable to address structural factors such as the excessive use of single-justice rulings, weak collegiality, and the seriatim logic of judicial opinions.