Weekly Report - 30 April 2009 (WR-09-17)

The very public spat between the supreme court president Gilmar Mendes and his peer Joaquim Barbosa last week exposed the deep ideological divisions that undermine the effectiveness of Brazil's judiciary. The spat demoralised the supreme court just as congress hit crisis point with yet another case of wrongdoing, this time involving legislators of all political parties and persuasions. Brazilian commentators argue that the current situation weakens Brazil's democracy: facing internal problems, neither the supreme court nor congress is keeping check on the executive.