By Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said on Thursday he is stepping down from the court, well ahead of a deadline for his mandatory retirement in 2033.
Barroso’s decision creates a new vacancy on the Supreme Court, allowing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to appoint a third nominee to the country’s 11-member top court during his current term.
“It’s time to move in a new direction. I have no attachment to power and would like to live the rest of my life without the responsibilities of the role,” Barroso said during the court’s session.
Barroso, 67, was appointed to a Supreme Court seat in 2013 by former President Dilma Rousseff, and has served as President of the court for two years until September.
He held the top post when a panel of the court last month sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election. Barroso did not vote in the case, as he was not part of the panel that issued the ruling.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Chris Reese and Natalia Siniawski)
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