Supreme Court justice suspends lower house committee on impeachment
Supreme Court (STF) Justice Luiz Edson Fachin
Supreme Court (STF) Justice Luiz Edson Fachin ruled Tuesday night (Dec. 8) the suspension of the impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff until Wednesday (16), when a plenary session should be held at the top court on an appeal filed by the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) regarding the constitutionality of Law 1,079/50, which sets forth the norms for an impeachment process.
The ruling prevents the Chamber of Deputies from forming the special committee on the impeachment before a decision is made by the Supreme Court on the validity of the law. At the party's request, Fachin decided to halt the process in order to keep future measures from being invalidated by the court.
Among the issues raised by the justice is the secret vote held to elect committee members. In his ruling, Fachin mentions that secret ballot are allowed by neither the Constitution nor the rules and regulations of the Chamber of Deputies.
The press office of lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha (of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, PMDB) announced he should not make any comments before receiving an official statement on the decision from the Supreme Court.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Supreme Court justice suspends lower house committee on impeachment
