THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY SEAT ON REGIONAL ELECTORAL COURTS: THE CONSTITUTIONAL RATIONALE OF ARTICLE 120, II, OF THE 1988 CONSTITUTION FROM A FEDERAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • Emílio Duarte de Souza e Silva

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-198

Keywords:

Comparative electoral law, Electoral Justice, Federal Justice, Federalism, Regional Electoral Courts

Abstract

This article examines the constitutional rationale of the seat reserved to the Federal Justice within the composition of the Regional Electoral Courts (article 120, II, of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution). It assumes that the Brazilian Electoral Justice is a body of heteronomous and temporary composition, in which the presence of a federal magistrate is not a mere organic detail, but a piece of the federative architecture of democracy. Through a dogmatic-comparative method, the foundations of the provision are reconstructed, federative, impartiality through detachment from local ties, technical and national- uniformity, the understanding consolidated by the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court on the composition of the regional courts is analysed, and the criterion of the seat that distinguishes investiture by a federal appellate judge or by a federal trial judge is examined. The 2022 creation of the Federal Regional Court of the 6th Region, which upgraded the seat of the Regional Electoral Court of Minas Gerais, is taken as the contemporary inflection of the matter. From a comparative standpoint, the models of Argentina, Mexico, the United States and Germany are contrasted. It concludes that the Brazilian design represents a minimal and sufficient federative balance, in which the federal seat operates as a thread of national unity and impartiality

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References

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Published

2026-09-17

How to Cite

de Souza e Silva, E. D. . (2026). THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY SEAT ON REGIONAL ELECTORAL COURTS: THE CONSTITUTIONAL RATIONALE OF ARTICLE 120, II, OF THE 1988 CONSTITUTION FROM A FEDERAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. South American Sciences, 6(2), e26424. https://doi.org/10.63330/sasciencesv6n2-198