The Brazilian Bar Association – Acre Section (OAB/AC) managed, together with the National Council of Justice (CNJ), to partially comply with the request for change in the work dynamics of female judges and lay judges of the Court of Justice of the State of Acre (TJAC). The answer came this Tuesday, 2nd, during a CNJ session. The OAB’s federal counselor, Alessandro Callil Castro, was the one who gave the oral argument in defense of the class.
Since 2022, OAB Acre has been seeking alternatives and solutions with the Judiciary to reduce the workload of lay judges in Acre. After exhausting its attempts with the Acre court, the Acre Section filed a request for a procedure to control an administrative act in light of the acts carried out by the TJAC against lay judges.
Alessandro Callil highlighted that, although it is not a complete victory for the category, the OAB has been committed to articulating means and defending female judges and lay judges since 2022. This Wednesday, the CNJ understood that these professionals are not responsible for drafting of the hearing agendas.
“We present robust evidence that demonstrates an excessive burden applied to Acre lay judges, highlighting an illegal situation. For example, the requirement of an unfeasible target established by the Respondent of at least 118 monthly hearings, which results in 85% of the working day occupied with hearings, leaving only 15% for other acts and decisions arising from the hearings”, added Callil.
President Rodrigo Aiache added that Seccional Acre has spared no effort when it comes to lay judges and conciliators. “This has been a commitment of ours since the first days of management, we opened dialogue with the Judiciary on this topic. Unfortunately, we were unable to advance on all the points required by the class, but we took this impasse to the CNJ and will remain firm in defending these professionals”, he stressed.
Understand the case
On June 21, 2022, the OAB/AC contacted the CNJ regarding administrative decisions by the TJAC involving lay judges and conciliators.
At the time, the president of OAB/AC, Rodrigo Aiache, was in person at the CNJ headquarters in Brasília-DF, filing the request for administrative act control procedures in light of the acts carried out by the Court of Justice of Acre (TJAC).
The document reports that the State Court of Acre would be failing to comply with the procedure established by the CNJ and the contracts signed by the TJAC itself with the lay judges and conciliators approved in the selection process, when reviewing the acts of reappointment of these professionals.
“To the great surprise of employees, despite expressing interest in the reappointment of the magistrates to whom they were subordinate and, even more so, the need for public service, the President of the TJ/AC, based on the power of self-protection, unanimously decided to review all acts of reappointment, as seen in the attached procedures”, highlights an excerpt from the document delivered to the CNJ.
OAB Acre consegue junto ao CNJ mudanças na dinâmica de trabalho dos juízes leigos
