After defeat, Flávio Bolsonaro will lose his mandate; understand how the special forum remains
Senator leaves Congress in January 2027, but STF rule allows maintaining forum for crimes related to the exercise of the office
Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) will be without an elective mandate from February 2027, after the defeat of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the presidential election on Sunday (25). The result, however, does not cause the immediate or complete loss of the privileged forum, whose application depends on the relationship of the facts investigated with the position occupied.
The MP remains in the Senate until the end of his term in January 2027. He contested the Presidency of the Republic in the year in which his seat was in renewal and, therefore, did not run for re-election to the Legislative. The end of this period will interrupt a 24-year sequence of elective positions.
Flávio began his parliamentary career in 2003, in the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj). After four terms as a state deputy, he was elected senator in 2018, for an eight-year term. With the defeat in the race to the Palácio do Planalto, he will be without a mandate for the first time since his entry into the Legislative Fluminense.
How is the privileged forum
Although the closure of the term removes the condition of senator, this does not mean that all investigations and criminal actions are automatically referred to the first instance.
In March 2025, the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) decided that the forum by prerogative of function remains for crimes committed during the exercise of the office and by reason of the functions performed, even after the departure of the authority.
The agreement also reaches situations where the investigation or criminal action is initiated after the end of the mandate. Thus, the date of the opening of an investigation alone does not determine the loss of the forum. It is necessary to consider when the facts occurred and if they have a relationship with the activity exercised by the parliamentary.
In practice, the situation of Flavio should be analyzed according to the characteristics of each case. Any crimes related to the exercise of the mandate may continue under the jurisdiction of the STF even after his departure from the Senate, according to the criteria established by the Court. Therefore, the electoral defeat closes the possibility of assuming the Presidency in this election, but does not automatically eliminate the forum in processes related to the parliamentary function.
