O Court Higher Electoral (TSE) It is the highest body that makes up the Electoral Justice, being responsible for administering the Brazilian electoral system. It is headquartered at Praça dos Tribunais Superiores, in Brasilia, consisting of seven ministers, who assume this position for a term known as a biennium (two years in duration).
The Superior Electoral Court was created during the government of Getulio Vargas, through the Electoral Code of 1932. It was abolished in 1937 and re-established in 1945. The composition of the Electoral Justice, of which the TSE is a part, as well as the composition of the TSE itself are defined in Constitution of 1988.
Read too: How does the Brazilian electoral system work?
Topics of this article
- 1 - Summary on the Superior Electoral Court (TSE)
- 2 - Do you know what the TSE is?
- 3 - Who is part of the TSE?
- 4 - When did the TSE appear?
Summary about the Superior Electoral Court (TSE)
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is the highest instance of the Electoral Justice.
It was created in 1932, with the Electoral Justice, through the Electoral Code.
He is responsible for administering the electoral system in Brazil.
It is composed of seven ministers, elected for a biennium.
It is headquartered at Praça dos Tribunais Superiores, in Brasília.
Do you know what TSE is?
The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is the highest instance of what we know as Electoral Justice, the organ of Judicial power responsible for organizing the Brazilian electoral system. It is the TSE that carries out the elections as well as establishes norms, judges appeals, carries out the certification of elected presidents, etc.
TSE is located in the Superior Courts Square, in Brasilia, Federal District. The first official headquarters of the TSE, in Brasília, was inaugurated on February 9, 1971, and the building was built through an architectural project by Nauro Esteves. In 2005, it was decided to change the headquarters of the TSE due to lack of space in the old headquarters. The new building opened on December 15, 2011.
The operation and organization of the Electoral Justice, of which the TSE is a part, are determined in the 1988 Constitution, between articles 118 and 121. A Electoral Justice is composed per:
Superior Electoral Court;
Regional Electoral Courts, installed in each capital of Brazil;
electoral judges;
electoral boards.
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Who is part of the TSE?
TSE is composed of seven ministers,elected for a two-year term, with the right to one re-election. The Brazilian Constitution determines how the composition of the seven ministers of the TSE should be:
Three justices come from the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Two ministers come from the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
Two ministers are chosen by the president based on two triple lists and with the assistance of lawyers with notable legal knowledge and moral integrity.
Justices from the STF and STJ are chosen by secret election, held in each of these courts. In general, STJ members are elected for only one biennium (two-year term), whereas STF members are re-elected more frequently. The president and vice president of the TSE are chosen from among the three ministers of the STF.
The Constitution determines the creation of a complementary law that addresses the powers and attributions of the TSE, but as a law of this type has not yet been established, the laws governing the powers of the TSE are, in addition to the 1988 Constitution, the following:
Electoral Code of 1965;
Law 9,504, of 1997;
Political Parties Act, 1995;
Law 12,034, of 2009;
The resolutions issued by the TSE itself.
Jurists understand that Brazilian legislation gives powers to the TSE that are characteristic of Executive It is Legislative, which makes this court the only one of Jjustice with extra powers to thes of your jurisdiction.
Read too: What can be considered an electoral crime?
When did TSE come about?
The emergence of the TSE happened along with the emergence of the Brazilian Electoral Justice. It is considered that the TSE was founded in 1932, during the Provisional Government of Vargas, with the institution of the Electoral Code of that year. The creation of the Code was the result of an existing demand in Brazilian society for the creation of a system that would make the Brazilian electoral system more transparent.
At the time, the law that created the TSE and the Electoral Justice was the dDecree No. 21,076/1932, and the Court was installed in the Rio de Janeiro, having Hermenegildo Rodrigues de Barros as its first president. The Electoral Justice was created to put an end to electoral fraud, a hallmark of the Brazilian electoral system during the First Republic.
With the blow of new state, Getúlio Vargas extinguished the Electoral Justice and the TSE because the Union was given the right to judge and take care of electoral matters. The Electoral Justice and the TSE were only reestablished, through Decree-Law nº 7.586/1945, with the dismantling of the Estado Novo dictatorship.
On that occasion, the TSE building was established at the Monroe Palace, located in Rio de Janeiro. A year later, it was transferred to Rua 1º de Março, also in Rio de Janeiro. As we have already seen, TSE is currently located in the Federal Capital, the city of Brasilia.
Image credits:
[1] rafastockbr It is Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Daniel Neves. "What is the TSE?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-e-o-tse.htm. Accessed on April 14, 2023.
