Brasília, February 11, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of the Association of Brazilian Magistrates (AMB), Cláudio Baldino Maciel, argues that control of the Judiciary cannot be exercised by individuals who are "strangers" to the profession, since that would weaken the judicial branch and, at the same time, strengthen the Executive. "The Judiciary has to change, but it can't have its structure debilitated," Baldino said.

He met Monday (9) night with the Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos. In addition to requesting support in opposition to the proposal to establish external controls on the Judiciary, Baldino criticized the proposal to federalize crimes against human rights and the dismissal of judges by administrative decision, as envisioned in the reform of the Judiciary. According to Baldino, this prerogative violates article 95 of the Federal Constitution, which determines that judges who have held their posts for over two years can only be dismissed by a sentence of the court.

The president of the AMB informed that the Minister of Justice was going to meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva prior to his appearance in the Federal Senate to speak about Judicial reform. "Many of these matters require more debate before being voted in the National Congress, and the Minister of Justice promised to analyze them with the greatest sensitivity," he said. (DAS)