Judicial indiscretion and constitutional erosion in Brazil

Authors

Keywords:

Constitutional erosion, Judicial branch, Media, Democratic legitimacy

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8966/2025/89653

This article examines the democratic impact of the judiciary’s media and political exposure. Using a legal-dogmatic approach, it reviews the literature on democratic decline, constitutional erosion, and the relationship between the judiciary and the media, with a focus on the Brazilian Supreme Court. It discusses the judiciary’s role in the deterioration of constitutional standards and its increasing participation in public debates. Based on episodes involving some Brazilian Supreme Court justices, it analyzes how this exposure undermines the democratic legitimacy of jurisdiction. The study concludes that, despite judicial resistance against constitutional erosion in Brazil, the Brazilian Supreme Court’s actions have heightened the judicial system’s vulnerability to the political-media landscape.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Rafael Dilly Patrus, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Doutor em Direito, Mestre em Direito, Mestre em História e Bacharel em Direito pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Atua como Consultor Legislativo concursado na Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais e é Professor de Direito Constitucional no Centro de Estudos em Direito e Negócios.

Downloads

Published

2025-09-04

How to Cite

Patrus, R. D. (2025). Judicial indiscretion and constitutional erosion in Brazil. Direito E Práxis, 16(4), 1–30. Retrieved from https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/revistaceaju/article/view/89653

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 4 (2025): REVISTA DIREITO E PRÁXIS

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Rafael Dilly Patrus (Autor/a)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The authors the sole responsibility for their texts. 
It is allowed the total or partial reproduction of the articles of the Journal Law and Praxis, if the author is mentioned.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 Unported License.
This license allows you to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial, provided the original authorship is cited.

80x15.png

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.