The Federal Regional Courts and the Federal Judges

Article 106. The following are the bodies of Federal Justice:

1. the Federal Regional Courts
2. the Federal Judges

Article 107. The Federal Regional Courts are composed of a minimum of 7 judges, selected, whenever possible, in the respective region and nominated by the President of the Republic from among Brazilians over 30 and under 65 years of age, as follows:

1. 1/5 shall be chosen from among lawyers effectively practicing their professional activity for more than ten years and from among members of the Federal Public Prosecution, with over ten years of service

2. the others, by means of promotion of federal judges with over 5 years in office, for seniority and merit, alternately.

Paragraph 1. A law shall regulate the removal or exchange of judges of the Federal Regional Courts and shall determine their jurisdiction and seat.

Paragraph 2. The Federal Regional Courts shall install an itinerant justice system, carrying out hearings and other functions typical of the operation of justice, within the territorial limits of the respective jurisdiction, and making use of public andcommunity facilities.

Paragraph 3. The Federal Regional Courts may operate in a decentralized mode, by creating regional Divisions, with a view to affording claimants full access to justice in all stages of the judicial action.

Article 108. The Federal Regional Courts have the competence to:

1. institute legal proceeding and trial, in the first instance, of: a) federal judges within the area of their jurisdiction, including those of the Military and Labour Courts, in common crimes and crimes of malversation, and the members of the Public Prosecution of the Union, except for the competence of the Electoral Courts; b) criminal reviews of and actions to overrule their final judgements or those of the federal judges of the region c) writs of mandamus and habeas data against an act of the Court itself or of a federal judge; d) habeas corpus, when the constraining authority is a federal judge e) conflicts of competence between federal judges subject to the Court

2. judge, at the level of appeal, cases decided by federal judges and by state judges in the exercise of the federal competence within the area of their jurisdiction.

Article 109. The federal judges have the competence to institute legal proceeding and trial of:

1. cases in which the Union, an autonomous government agency or a federal public company have an interest as plaintiffs, defendants, privies or interveners, with the exception of cases of bankruptcy, of job-related accidents, and of those subject to the Electoral and Labour Courts;
2. cases between a foreign state or international organization and a municipality or a person domiciled or residing in the country
3. cases based on a treaty or a contract between the Union and a foreign State or international organization
4. political crimes and criminal offenses committed against the assets, services or an interest of the Union or of its autonomous agencies or public companies, excluding misdemeanours and excepting the competence of the Military and Electoral Courts;
5. crimes covered by an international treaty or convention, when, the prosecution having started in the country, the result has taken place or should have taken place abroad, or conversely; V-A – cases regarding human rights referred to in paragraph 5 of this article;
6. crimes against the organization of labour and, in the cases determined by law, those against the financial system and the economic and financial order;
7. habeas corpus, in criminal matters within their competence or when the coercion is exercised by an authority whose acts are not directly subject to another jurisdiction;
8. writs of mandamus and habeas data against an act of a federal authority, except for the cases within the competence of the federal courts;
9. crimes committed aboard ships or aircrafts, excepting the competence of the Military Courts;
10. crimes or irregular entry or stay of a foreigner, execution of letters rogatory, after exequatur, and of foreign court decisions, after homologation, cases related to nationality, including the respective option, and to naturalization;
11. disputes over the rights of Indians

Paragraph 1. Cases in which the Union is the plaintiff shall be instituted in the judicial section where the other party is domiciled.

Paragraph 2. Cases brought against the Union may be instituted in the judicial section where the plaintiff is domiciled, or where the act or fact giving rise to the suit occurred or where the item is located, or further, in the Federal District.

Paragraph 3. Cases in which the parties are a social security institution and its beneficiary shall undergo legal proceeding and trial in the state courts, in the forum of the domicile of the beneficiaries or insured participants, whenever the district is not the seat of a federal court of first instance, in which case the law may allow other cases to be also processed and judged by the state courts.

Paragraph 4. In the event of the preceding paragraph, the appropriate appeal shall always be taken to the Federal Regional Court within the area of jurisdiction of a judge of first instance.

Paragraph 5. In cases of serious human rights violations, and with a view to ensuring compliance with obligations deriving from international human rights treaties to which Brazil is a party, the Attorney-General of the Republic may request, before the Superior Court of Justice, and in the course of any of the stages of the inquiry or judicial action, that jurisdiction on the matter be taken to Federal Justice.

Article 110. Each state, as well as the Federal District, shall be a judicial section, which shall have its seat in the respective capital, and there shall be courts of first instance located where established in law.

In the Federal Territories, the jurisdiction and duties attributed to federal judges shall be within the competence of the judges of the local justice, under the terms of the law.