Brazil’s Supreme Court Is Out of Control
The economy is hurt by celebrity judges and an overtaxed court that can’t issue durable rulings.
Supporters of Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Photographer: Franklin De Freitas/AFP/Getty Images
No one denies that Latin America economies are hurting, with regional growth predicted to reach barely half the global average next year. And there’s little quarrel about one big reason for the slump. The absence of clear rules and a reliable legal system discourages investment and effective business management.
So why is Brazil’s highest court revising a keystone of the country’s penal code, a move that could free thousands of convicted criminals, trigger partisan discord and throw a cloud over the anticorruption drive that has rid public office of freebooters?