Habeas corpus and the original jurisdiction of the Brazilian Supreme Court

Abstract

The text examines the historical evolution of the original jurisdiction of the Brazilian Supreme Court to hear habeas corpus, from the 1891 Constitution to the 1988 Charter. It demonstrates that, in previous Constitutions, this jurisdiction was always tied to the prerogative of forum and the immediate or direct subjection of the coercing authority to the Court's jurisdiction. With the creation of the Superior Court of Justice, appellate judges and judges of federal and regional courts came under its direct jurisdiction, leaving the Supreme Court only with acts of the Superior Courts. It concludes that the expansive interpretation, which attributes to the Supreme Court all habeas corpus against any court in the country, contradicts the constitutional text, overloads the Court, and empties the appellate jurisdiction of the Superior Court of Justice, requiring jurisprudential revision.