A crisis is shaking Brazil’s Supreme Court. Here’s what to know

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court is in the throes of an unprecedented crisis. Sessions are being canceled. Justices are overruling one another’s decisions. And suspicions of graft, political bias and police interference loom over several of its members ahead of the country's presidential election in October.

The justices at the heart of the crisis are perceived as being at opposing ends of Brazil’s polarized political spectrum. Next month, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to face off with Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, in what is likely to be a close election, as it was four years ago.

The court is set to meet Tuesday to discuss whether one of the justices should be investigated for corruption.

Here’s what to know.

The chaos gripping the court stems from the collapse of Banco Master, a mid-sized bank worth up to $16 billion in assets, which was shut down last November after a sprawling investigation into a fraud scheme involving billions of reais. Several top politicians and members of the judiciary were linked to it.

Justice Andre Mendonca, an appointee of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was in charge of the case at the Supreme Court.

Banco Master’s former head Daniel Vorcaro was arrested earlier this year. Investigations show he had business dealings with several high-ranking politicians, including Sen. Bolsonaro. Additionally, Justice Alexandre de Moraes — a rival of Mendonca — provided legal advice to Vorcaro, and his wife had a 130 million reais ($23 million) contract to provide legal services to Banco Master, according to documents related to the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, investigations into Flávio Bolsonaro's relationship with Vorcaro and the banker's $12 million in payments for a movie on his father's life have been much slower. Sen. Bolsonaro has admitted receiving the payment but denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Some members of Brazil's top court have openly accused Mendonca of selectively releasing parts of the sprawling Banco Master case and purposely slow-walking the release of parts of the investigation that relate to Sen. Bolsonaro to coincide with the upcoming elections.

Mendonca denies the accusations of bias.

Multiple Brazilian media outlets have reported that Mendonca wants de Moraes suspended while the court decides whether he should be investigated for graft. De Moraes has filed a request to have Mendonca investigated by the court and potentially impeached by the Senate for investigating him in an unauthorized proceeding.

Brazil’s next president will appoint at least four new Supreme Court justices, who can serve until they are 75 years old. Some Senate candidates allied with Flávio Bolsonaro have promised to push to impeach members of the country's highest court, while Lula allies are considering term limits.

De Moraes is a hero for many Lula supporters for overseeing the case that led to the conviction of ex-President Bolsonaro for attempting a coup after his 2022 defeat.

Ahead of the 2022 vote, de Moraes used his double role as a high court judge and head of Brazil’s electoral court to fight disinformation and protect the integrity of the electoral process as Bolsonaro cast unfounded doubts on Brazil’s electronic voting system.

De Moraes' demise, analysts say, could embolden the Bolsonaros to once again question results if they lose. A Bolsonaro appointee, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, currently chairs Brazil's top electoral court.

At a rally that drew nearly 30,000 people in Sao Paulo for Brazil’s Independence Day on Sept. 7, Sen. Bolsonaro directly linked Lula to de Moraes. “Whoever votes for Lula votes for Alexandre de Moraes,” Sen. Bolsonaro said, vowing to reshape the court if elected.

“Because it’s an extremely polarized campaign, all that is negative for de Moraes is, immediately, positive for the Bolsonaro family,” said independent political consultant Thomas Traumann, noting that the crisis at the Supreme Court has become a central issue in the presidential campaign.

When the court meets Tuesday, it is expected to discuss whether de Moraes should be investigated.

Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin is trying to turn down the political heat and has removed Mendonca from overseeing the Banco Master investigations. Fachin also ordered the unsealing of all documents related to the Banco Master case at the Supreme Court, which were made available on Friday.

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, speaks with Federal Police Director General Andrei Rodrigues, center, next to Justice Minister Wellington Cesar, far left, during Independence Day celebrations in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro attends a news conference after visiting a Honda motorcycle factory in the Manaus Free Trade Zone during a campaign event in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro sits on a motorcycle during a visit to a Honda motorcycle factory in the Manaus Free Trade Zone during a campaign event in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

A child holds a Brazilian flag during an election campaign march in support of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The Statue of Justice stands outside the Supreme Court building ahead of a plenary session in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A major inquiry into the case of New Zealand man Tom Phillips, who hid his children in dense forest for years before he died in a police shootout, has criticized officials for not taking seriously enough the harms and risks to the children early in the saga of their disappearance.

The public inquiry — which is a formal, independent investigation of matters of significant importance in New Zealand — was launched in November 2025 to scrutinize how government agencies handled the case. It was prompted by outrage about how a father involved in court proceedings was able to evade authorities for almost four years, while forcing his children to live in rugged, squalid conditions in remote countryside without access to health care or education.

The inquiry's report, released Tuesday, said the harms caused by Phillips isolating his children were “underplayed, minimised or overlooked” for “significant periods” by the police and New Zealand's child protection agency, Oranga Tamariki. Concerns raised by the children's mother and her relatives were "often minimised as being part of a parenting dispute,” the report added.

When Phillips vanished with his children — then 5, 7 and 8 — from Marokopa, a tiny rural township on New Zealand’s North Island, in December 2021, it wasn't the first time he'd disappeared with them. Yet officials dealing with the case didn't act with enough urgency, the inquiry found.

Significant opportunities were missed by police officers and social workers after the family's first disappearance months earlier, New Zealand Minister of Social Development Louise Upston said in the government's response to the inquiry on Tuesday. The inquiry found officials didn't act quickly enough on a 2023 sighting of the family and didn't seek surveillance warrants or bring in the military early enough.

“To the Phillips children directly, this report has found that our agencies did not take all practical steps to protect you," Upston said in a statement. “For that we are deeply sorry.”

The government pledged to enact all of the report's recommendations, which include changes to how reports of concern to agencies about children are made and handled. However, no individual officials are named in the report and a public inquiry doesn't have the power to make criminal charges or impose penalties.

Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Amanda Malu said the report, which said her staff were “largely dismissive” about concerns of the children's mother and older sisters about Phillips, was “difficult and at times harrowing” to read.

“I would particularly like to acknowledge the courage shown by the children’s mother and older siblings,” Malu said in a statement. “We did not listen in the way we should have, and this family deserved better from us.”

After Phillips was shot dead by police officers in September 2025 as he fled a robbery with one of his children, the others were soon discovered along with a cache of guns at a makeshift campsite nearby. Since Phillips disappeared in December 2021, he and his children never appeared to have traveled far from the tiny rural settlement where they lived in the sprawling farming region of Waikato.

Since the children were found, officials haven't disclosed details of where they live or who is caring for them. Some details of the case can't legally be reported.

The children's names and photographs were widely published in New Zealand news outlets while they were missing as the police urged members of the public to come forward with information. However, the inquiry found that before those efforts, police officers took a “low-key” approach to the inquiry, “predicated on the misconceived view that there were no concerns for the children’s welfare."

While on the run, Phillips committed armed robberies and during his fatal shootout, he shot a police officer in the head, seriously wounding him.

December 2021 wasn’t the first time the fugitive father and his children had vanished. Three months earlier, he sparked a massive search operation when his truck was found on a beach near his home, with no trace of the family.

Officials feared they had been swept out to sea before Phillips and the children emerged from the forest after 18 days, saying they had been camping. Phillips was charged with wasting police resources but disappeared again with the children before he was due to appear in court.

He didn't have custody of the children at the time. However, Oranga Tamariki staff told a family court hearing between Phillips' first and second disappearances that the children were “completely fine.”

They also failed to tell the court about concerns raised by the children's mother and the police, said the report’s writer, former High Court justice and prominent lawyer Simon Moore.

FILE - New Zealand Minister of Social Development Louise Upston watches a speech at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay, File)

FILE - This photo released by the New Zealand Police on Sept 10, 2025, shows the main campsite where Tom Phillips and his children were hiding in the bush near Waitomo, in the district of Waikato, New Zealand. (New Zealand Police via AP, File)