Electoral and Military Courts

Section 6: Electoral Courts and Judges

Article 118. The following are the bodies of Electoral Justice:

1. the Superior Electoral Court;
2. the Regional Electoral Courts;
3. the Electoral Judges;
4. the Electoral Boards.

Article 119. The Superior Electoral Court shall be composed of a minimum of 7 members chosen:

1. through election, by secret vote: a) three judges from among the Justices of the Supreme Federal Court; b) two judges from among the Justices of the Superior Court of Justice;
2. through appointment by the President of the Republic, two judges from among six lawyers of notable juridical learning and good moral repute, nominated by the Supreme Federal Court.

The Superior Electoral Court shall elect its President and Vice-President from among the Justices of the Supreme Federal Court, and its Electoral Corregidor from among the Justices of the Superior Court of Justice.

Article 120. There shall be a Regional Electoral Court in the capital of each state and in the Federal District.

Paragraph 1. The Regional Electoral Courts shall be composed:

1. through election, by secret vote: a) of two judges chosen from among the judges of the Court of Justice; b) of two judges chosen by the Court of Justice from among court judges;
2. of a judge of the Federal Regional Court with its seat in the capital of a state or in the Federal District, or, in the absence thereof, of a federal judge chosen in any case by the respective Federal Regional Court;
3. through appointment by the President of the Republic, of two judges nominated by the Court of Justice from among six lawyers of notable juridical learning and good moral repute.

Paragraph 2. The Regional Electoral Court shall elect its President and Vice-President from among its judges.

Article 121. A supplementary law shall provide for the organization and competence of the electoral courts, judges and boards.

Paragraph 1. The members of the courts, the court judges and the members of the electoral boards, while in office and insofar as applicable to them, shall enjoy full guarantees and shall be non-removable.

Paragraph 2. The Judges of the Electoral Courts, except for a justified reason, shall serve for a minimum of two years, and never for more than two consecutive two-year periods, and their substitutes shall be chosen at the same time and through the same procedure, in equal numbers for each category.

Paragraph 3. The decisions of the Superior Electoral Court are unappealable, save those which are contrary to this Constitution and those denying habeas corpus or writs of mandamus.

Paragraph 4. Decisions of the Regional Electoral Courts may only be appealed against when: a law;

1. they are rendered against an express provision of this Constitution or of
2. there is a divergence in the interpretation of a law between two or more electoral courts;
3. they relate to ineligibility or issuance of certificates of electoral victory in federal or state elections;
4. they annul certificates of electoral victory or decree the loss of federal or state elective offices;
5. they deny habeas corpus, writs of mandamus, habeas data or writs of injunction.

Section 7: Military Courts and Judges

Article 122. The following are the bodies of Military Justice:

1. the Superior Military Court;
2. the Military Courts and Judges instituted by law.

Article 123. The Superior Military Court shall be composed of fifteen life Justices, appointed by the President of the Republic, after their nomination has been approved by the Federal Senate, three of which shall be chosen from among General officers of the Navy, four from among General officers of the Army, three from among General officers of the Air Force, all of them in active service and in the highest rank of the career, and five from among civilians.

The civil justices shall be chosen by the President of the Republic from among Brazilians over thirty-five years of age, as follows:

1. three from among lawyers of notable juridical learning and spotless conduct, with over ten years of effective professional activity
2. two, by equal choice, from among auditor judges and members of the Public Prosecution of the Military Justice.

Article 124. The Military Courts have the competence to carry out legal proceeding and trial of the military crimes defined by law. The law shall make provisions for the organization, operation and competence of the Military Courts.

Section 8: Courts and Judges of the States

Article 125. The states shall organize their judicial system, observing the principles established in this Constitution. (CA No. 45, 2004) Paragraph 1. The competence of the courts shall be defined in the Constitution of the state, and the law of judicial organization shall be the initiative of the Court of Justice.

Paragraph 2. The states have the competence to institute actions of unconstitutionality of state or municipal laws or normative acts in the light of the Constitution of the state, it being forbidden to attribute legitimation to act to a sole body. Paragraph 3. By proposal of the Court of Justice, a state law may create the State Military Justice, constituted, at first instance, by judges and by the Councils of Justice and, at second instance, by the Court of Justice itself, or by the Court of Military Justice in those states in which the military troops count more than twenty thousand members.

Paragraph 4. The State Military Justice has the competence to institute legal proceeding and trial of the military of the states for military crimes defined in law, as well as to hear and try judicial actions against military disciplinary measures, with due regard for the competence of the jury when the victim is a civilian, and the competent court shall decide upon the loss of post or rank of officers and of the grade of servicemen.

Paragraph 5. The judges of the military justice system have the competence, in the quality of single-judge courts, to institute legal proceeding and trial of military crimes committed against civilians and to hear and try judicial actions against military disciplinary measures, and it is incumbent upon the Council of Justice, presided over by a judge, to institute legal proceeding and trial of other military crimes.

Paragraph 6. The Court of Justice 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.

Paragraph 7. The Court of Justice 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 and community facilities.

Article 126. For the settlement of conflicts relating to land property, the Court of Justice shall propose the creation of specialized single-judge courts, with exclusive competence for agrarian matters.

Whenever efficient jurisdictional service requires it, the judge shall go personally to the site of the litigation.