Desembargador

Desembargador (Portuguese pronunciation: [desẽbaʁɡaˈdoʁ]) is the title of some appellate judges in Brazil. The Constitution of 1988 defines desembargadores as the judges of the Courts of Justice, which are appellate courts of the state court system. Judges of the state first instance courts are called juízes.

In 2001, the Regional Federal Court for the Fourth Region determined that the judges of that court should be called desembargadores federais, instead of simply juízes federais, or federal judges, which was the name of their office until then. First instance federal judges continued being called juízes.

This determination was criticized by the federal judge Julio Guilherme Schattschneider, who said that it was the equivalent to the President issuing a decree saying that they should be called First Minister. He said that the Court gave a bad example because its determination was unconstitutional, given that the Constitution determines that all federal judges, regardless of being appellate court judges or not, be called juízes. ^[1]

References

1. ^ Julio Guilherme Schattschneider. Desembargador federal?. Jus Navigandi (October 2002)