O AMICUS CURIAE EM MATÉRIA AMBIENTAL: DA RECEPTIVIDADE DO INSTITUTO AO LIMITADO IMPACTO DOS ARGUMENTOS NA FUNDAMENTAÇÃO DAS DECISÕES NO SUPREMO TRIBUNAL FEDERAL.
Amicus curiae. Brazilian Supreme Federal Court. Popular participation. Influence of amici curiae arguments. Final decision.
The role of amici curiae i n the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court(STF) seems to have little impact on what can be inferred from the reasoningofthe Justices. The contributionof theseactors inSTF cases, whether individual orcollective, aimsto actualize popular participation within the Court, as each candidate admitted to this position represents a segment of society. In cases involving environmental issues, the situation is no different: despite the participation facilitated by the amicus curiae, there is little effectiveness noted in the institute's arguments for shaping the final decision in actions. Based on this premise, the study sought to investigate whether, in practice, the arguments of amici curiae influence STF Justices in the construction of the final decisions of cases. Subsidiary questions could also be answered, such as whether the arguments of amici curiae are expressly considered in decisions rendered by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court and whether the STF, in the practice of its judgments, iseffectively open to informational influences from amici curiae. As a result, it was found that despite the broad openness granted by the Court to amici curiae, and the fact that there is significant participation of this institute in STF cases, there are procedural and substantive limits that reduce its influence on STF decisions.