ADPF 756
Argument for Failure to Comply with a Fundamental Precept
Reporting Minister: Ricardo Lewandowski
This action also received the following seals:
CONTEXT
While Brazil was suffering from the escalation of deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the number of deaths had already exceeded 200,000, the Federal Government was disseminating misinformation about the disease and imposing difficulties to start vaccinating the population. These conducts went against the guidelines of national and international technical bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
LEGAL SUIT
The lawsuit asked the Federal Supreme Court to order the Federal Government to adopt a series of concrete measures to deal with the pandemic, given the need for a concrete guarantee of the rights to life and health, set out in articles 5, 6, 196 and 197 of the Constitution.
OUTCOME
The requests in the lawsuit were granted and the STF ordered the drafting and implementation of the first National Immunization Plan against Covid-19 in Brazil, as well as establishing the jurisdiction of states and municipalities to define vaccination criteria for children and adolescents. The STF also suspended an act by the Ministry of Education that prevented the vaccination requirement for the return to face-to-face activities at federal educational institutions, which put students’ lives at risk.
REPERCUSSION
“The Federal Supreme Court has once again reinforced the importance of mass vaccination of the population by re-establishing the autonomy of federal educational institutions to require proof of vaccination in face-to-face activities. The Ministry of Education’s unconstitutional regulation revealed a new attempt by the federal government to discourage vaccinations, insinuating the non-existent danger of immunizations, which was correctly rejected by the Court,” said lawyers Rafael Carneiro and Felipe Corrêa, from Carneiros Advogados.”
Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ruled on Tuesday that it is up to states and municipalities to decide whether to vaccinate adolescents over the age of 12 against Covid-19.
ADPF 900
Argument for Failure to Comply with a Fundamental Precept
Reporting Justice: Ricardo Lewandowski
This action also received the following seals:
CONTEXT
At a critical moment in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security published an ordinance prohibiting the dismissal for just cause of people who refused to take the vaccine, even without any medical contraindication to vaccination. This act endangered the lives of people who, by going to their workplace, could be exposed to the virus.
LAWSUIT
The lawsuit sought a declaration of unconstitutionality and the invalidation of the ordinance, notably in view of the need to guarantee the fundamental rights to life and health of the community (including civil servants, employees and society in general), provided for in articles 5 and 6 of the Constitution.
OUTCOME
In response to the lawsuit’s request, the STF suspended the effects of the ordinance and recognized the unconstitutionality of public acts that discourage or hinder the vaccination of the population in the fight against Covid-19.
REPERCUSSION
“Justice Barroso’s injunction reinforces the Supreme Court’s guidance that all state measures adopted during the pandemic must be guided by technical criteria, backed by the health authorities. In addition, by dismissing the Ministry of Labor’s unconstitutional ordinance, the injunction preserves a safe working environment for everyone and encourages the population to be vaccinated,” said lawyer Rafael Carneiro.