Meta-vote: a solution to the agenda-setting in STF?

Abstract

In Brazilian Supreme Court, the chief justice has the power of agenda-setting. By doing that, he also has the power of case selection. Through case selection, the chief justice is able to prioritize a concrete case instead of an abstract judicial review regarding the same constitutional issue. In situations like that, this paper argues that case selection could entail problems of inconsistency and incoherence. The result of the judgement turns out to be a mere consequence of the case selection rules, instead of a truly collegiate decision. In those cases, the court should deliberate on the case selection through the so-called meta-vote.

Keywords: Agenda-setting; Case selection; Doctrinal paradox