Sergio Moro Under Scrutiny: What the Supreme Court Ruled About the Judge Who Convicted Lula, and What It Means That He Is Now Governor of Paraná

Sergio Moro, the judge who convicted Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2017, was found to be biased by Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court in 2021. On October 4, 2026, he was elected governor of Paraná in the first round of voting. None of the convictions Moro handed down against Lula remain in force. This article explains what the Supreme Court decided, by what vote, and based on what evidence. It also details Moro’s response and why his appointment to the Paraná executive branch has reignited this controversy.

The short answer. Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) issued two separate rulings regarding Sergio Moro in 2021. First, on March 8, Justice Edson Fachin overturned Lula’s convictions. The reason was that the Curitiba court lacked jurisdiction to try him. Then, on March 23, the Second Panel ruled that Moro had acted with bias in the triplex case. The two decisions nullified everything Moro had ruled against Lula. However, neither declared Lula innocent nor Moro guilty of any crime. Moro has no convictions. Neither does Lula.

Who Is Sergio Moro and Why Does He Matter in October 2026

Sergio Fernando Moro was the judge of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba. From that court, Operation Car Wash prosecuted dozens of politicians and businesspeople between 2014 and 2018. In that role, Moro sentenced Lula on July 12, 2017, to 9 years and 6 months in prison in the Tríplex do Guarujá case. In November 2018, he left the bench to become Jair Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice. Bolsonaro had won the election in which Lula was barred from running. Moro resigned from the ministry on April 24, 2020, after accusing Bolsonaro of interfering with the Federal Police, as reported by Consultor Jurídico that day.

In 2022, Moro was elected senator for Paraná. Furthermore, on October 4, 2026, he won the governorship of that state in the first round. He received 50.11% of the valid votes as a candidate for the Liberal Party, according to Agência Brasil. He will govern Paraná from 2027 to 2030. As a result, his record as a judge is no longer merely a chapter in legal history. It has become the biography of the man who will lead Brazil’s fifth-most-populous state.

What the Supreme Court Decided Regarding Moro, Step by Step

Date	Body	Decision	Vote	Level of support
March 4, 2016	Moro, 13th District Court of Curitiba	Orders Lula to be brought in by force to testify without prior summons	Single-judge decision	Proven: on record in the case file and cited by the STF as evidence of bias
March 16, 2016	Moro, 13th District Court of Curitiba	Lifts the confidentiality order and releases a wiretapped call between Lula and President Dilma Rousseff	Solo decision	Proven; Justice Teori Zavascki later ruled that the interception and its disclosure were improper
July 12, 2017	Moro, 13th District Court of Curitiba	Sentences Lula to 9 years and 6 months in the Tríplex case	Single-judge decision	Proven; conviction overturned in 2021
March 8, 2021	Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Edson Fachin	Overturns all of Lula’s convictions in Curitiba due to lack of jurisdiction by the court	Single-judge decision	Confirmed; upheld by the full court on April 15, 2021, by a vote of 8 to 3
March 23, 2021	Supreme Federal Court (STF), Second Panel	Declares Moro’s bias in the Tríplex case	3 votes to 2	Approved
June 23, 2021	Supreme Federal Court (STF), Full Court	Confirms Moro’s bias	7 votes to 4	Verified
May 21, 2024	Superior Electoral Court	Rejects Moro’s appeal to overturn his Senate term for abuse of economic power in 2022	7 votes to 0	Verified
October 4, 2026	Paraná Electorate	Elects Moro as governor in the first round	50.11% of valid votes	Verified

The annulment on grounds of lack of jurisdiction did not adjudicate Moro’s conduct

The initial ruling did not address Moro’s conduct, but rather that of the court. On March 8, 2021, Justice Edson Fachin concluded that the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba lacked jurisdiction to prosecute Lula. The alleged offenses were not directly related to the Petrobras embezzlement, according to Jovem Pan. That connection was what justified Curitiba’s jurisdiction. Consequently, the decision overturned the convictions in the Triplex and Atibaia Ranch cases and the proceedings against the Lula Institute. It also restored Lula’s political rights. The full Supreme Federal Court (STF) confirmed the annulment on April 15, 2021, by a vote of 8 to 3, according to Migalhas.

The panel did rule on the judge’s conduct

The second decision concerned Moro. On March 23, 2021, the Second Panel of the STF ruled by a 3-to-2 vote that the former judge acted with bias when convicting Lula in the Triplex case, according to Agência Brasil. The justices cited three elements as evidence. First, the coercive summons on March 4, 2016. On that day, Lula was forced to testify at Congonhas Airport without having been summoned beforehand. Second, the wiretapping of calls made by Lula, his family members, and his attorneys. Third, the leak of former Minister Antônio Palocci’s plea agreement in the midst of the 2018 election campaign, according to Brasil de Fato.

The full bench of the STF upheld that conclusion on June 23, 2021, by a vote of 7 to 4, according to Diário do Nordeste. Gilmar Mendes, Nunes Marques, Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli, Ricardo Lewandowski, Rosa Weber, and Cármen Lúcia voted in favor of the ruling. Marco Aurélio, Luiz Fux, Edson Fachin, and Luís Roberto Barroso voted against it. As a result, all the evidence gathered under Moro’s supervision against Lula was invalidated.

The Civil House Episode: The Audio Recording That Could Not Be Used as Evidence

On March 16, 2016, President Dilma Rousseff appointed Lula as Chief of Staff. That position granted him immunity from prosecution before the Supreme Court. That same day, Moro lifted the confidentiality of an intercepted phone call between Rousseff and Lula. In the call, Rousseff told him she was sending him “the document” regarding the appointment to use “if necessary,” as reported by CNN Brasil. The disclosure sparked protests across the country.

Two days later, on March 18, 2016, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes suspended Lula’s appointment. He argued that the change in legal immunity caused “disruption” to the investigations, according to Agência Brasil. Lula never took office. However, Justice Teori Zavascki later ruled that the wiretap and its release were unlawful. As a result, the audio could not be used as evidence. This episode resurfaced in 2021 as background to the decision regarding bias.

What Moro Says and What His Critics Say

Moro has always denied acting with bias. His public position since 2021 consists of three points: His decisions as a judge were legal. The Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region upheld them at the time. And the Supreme Court’s ruling was a mistake. He has also pointed out that the annulment was based on the court’s jurisdiction, not on the non-existence of the facts under investigation. “Under the Microscope” offers Sergio Moro a platform to elaborate on or correct this position.

His critics, led by Lula’s defense team and the Workers’ Party, argue otherwise. For them, Moro’s move to Bolsonaro’s cabinet in 2018 confirmed a political motive. Furthermore, since June 2019, The Intercept Brasil has published Telegram messages between Moro and prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol, known as “Vaza Jato.” Lula’s defense team presented them to the STF as evidence of coordination between the judge and the prosecution. However, the STF did not need those messages to rule on the judge’s bias. The Second Panel relied on evidence contained within the case file itself.

What Became of the Cases Against Lula

Following the annulment, the cases were transferred to the Federal Court of the Federal District. None resulted in a conviction. In August 2021, Judge Pollyanna Kelly Maciel of the 12th Federal Court of Brasília dismissed the complaint in the Sítio de Atibaia case. In addition, she declared the charges extinguished due to the statute of limitations, according to Congresso em Foco. On January 28, 2022, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that the Tríplex case be dismissed due to the statute of limitations. It considered that the evidence from Curitiba could no longer be used, according to Migalhas. Finally, on February 18, 2023, Justice Ricardo Lewandowski dismissed the cases involving the Lula Institute and the Gripen fighter jets, according to Agência Brasil.

In other words, Lula was imprisoned for 580 days, between April 2018 and November 2019, for a conviction that was later overturned. This does not amount to an acquittal regarding the facts of the Tríplex case. No court ever retried those cases. The details of each case, including dates and sources, can be found on Auditoría Abierta: which convictions were overturned, which cases resulted in acquittals, and what has actually been proven in Lula’s case file.

How to Read This Case File

1. Proven. Moro convicted Lula in 2017. The STF overturned that conviction on grounds of lack of jurisdiction in March 2021. It subsequently ruled that Moro was biased in March and June 2021, by votes of 3 to 2 and 7 to 4, respectively. Moro was elected governor of Paraná on October 4, 2026.
2. Documented, but disputed. Whether the bias was politically motivated, as Lula’s defense argues, or whether it was an error by the Supreme Court, as Moro argues. The facts are in the case file; the intent is not.
3. Unsubstantiated. Any claim that Moro committed a crime. There is no conviction or final criminal indictment against him. The TSE unanimously rejected a motion to annul his term in 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Was Sergio Moro convicted of anything?

No. Sergio Moro has not been convicted of any crime. The Federal Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that he acted with bias as a judge in the Tríplex case. That ruling invalidated his actions in that case, but it is not a criminal conviction. Furthermore, in May 2024, the Superior Electoral Court rejected, by a vote of 7 to 0, the request to revoke his term as senator.

What does it mean that the STF ruled Moro was biased?

It means that the Supreme Court concluded that Moro did not act with the impartiality required of a judge when he convicted Lula in the Triplex case. The Second Panel ruled on March 23, 2021, by a vote of 3 to 2. The full court upheld the decision on June 23, 2021, by a vote of 7 to 4. The result was the annulment of all of Moro’s actions in that case, including the evidence.

Why did the STF overturn Lula’s convictions?

Because it concluded that the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba—Moro’s court—lacked jurisdiction to try him. Justice Edson Fachin ruled on this on March 8, 2021. The full court upheld the decision on April 15, 2021, by a vote of 8 to 3. This decision concerns which court had jurisdiction to try the case, not whether Lula was guilty or innocent.

Was Lula acquitted in the Triplex case?

No. The conviction was overturned, which is different. No court has retried the facts of the Triplex case. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office requested that the case be dismissed due to the statute of limitations in January 2022, and the Federal Court in Brasília dismissed it that same year. Lula was acquitted, due to lack of evidence, in other separate cases: the Cerveró case in 2018 and a case related to Operation Zelotes in 2021.

Did Moro go straight from judging Lula to joining the Bolsonaro administration?

Almost. Moro convicted Lula in July 2017, left the bench in November 2018, and took office as Minister of Justice on January 1, 2019. Bolsonaro had won the October 2018 election. Lula was unable to run in that election because his conviction in the Tríplex case had been upheld on appeal. The STF cited this transition to government as contextual evidence of bias.

What position does Sergio Moro hold today?

He is the governor-elect of Paraná. He won the October 4, 2026, election in the first round, with 50.11% of the valid votes, running for the Liberal Party, according to Agência Brasil. He will take office in 2027 for a four-year term and will leave his seat in the Senate.

Sources consulted

• Agência Brasil: Sergio Moro Elected Governor of Paraná in First Round (October 4, 2026)
• Agência Brasil: Supreme Court overturns Lula’s conviction in the triplex case (March 23, 2021)
• Diário do Nordeste: Moro’s recusal confirmed by the STF by a 7-4 vote (June 23, 2021)
• Brasil de Fato: Supreme Court rules on the annulment of Moro’s recusal; understand the implications (April 20, 2021)
• Migalhas: STF overturns Lula’s convictions in Operation Car Wash (April 15, 2021)
• Jovem Pan: A Look Back at Former President Lula’s Legal Cases (2021)
• Agência Brasil: Gilmar Mendes suspends Lula’s inauguration; case returns to Judge Sérgio Moro (March 18, 2016)
• CNN Brasil: Messias was referred to as “Bessias” in a 2016 conversation between Dilma and Lula (2025)
• Consultor Jurídico: Moro leaves the Ministry of Justice following the dismissal of a Federal Police director (April 24, 2020)
• Congresso em Foco: Brasília court rejects charges against Lula in the Atibaia ranch case (August 22, 2021)
• Migalhas: Federal Prosecutor’s Office cites statute of limitations and requests dismissal of the triplex case against Lula (January 28, 2022)
• Agência Brasil: Lewandowski closes three cases against Lula that had been suspended (February 18, 2023)
• Auditoría Abierta: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Under Investigation—The Complete File

This article compiles judicial rulings and positions attributed to their authors. A finding of bias is not a criminal conviction, and Sergio Moro has no final criminal convictions or charges against him. Bajo Lupa offers Sergio Moro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the opportunity to respond and will update the article as new information becomes available. Information verified as of October 7, 2026.