Superior Electoral Court

The Superior Electoral Court, known in Brazilian Portuguese as the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral or TSE, is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice. That branch of the judiciary also comprises one Regional Electoral Court in each of the 26 states and the Federal District, as determined by Article 118 of the Constitution of Brazil. The Brazilian Electoral Code of 1932 established the Electoral Justice, replacing a system in which the legislative branch conducted electoral proceedings and transferring control of them to the judiciary. Its duties are now regulated by the Electoral Code approved in 1965 as Law No. 4.737/65. Under Article 121 of the 1988 Constitution the decisions of the TSE are unappealable, except those contrary to the Constitution or those that deny habeas corpus or writs of mandamus, which the Supreme Federal Court decides on appeal. Article 119 sets its composition at seven members: three elected by secret vote from among the justices of the Supreme Federal Court, two elected from among the justices of the Superior Court of Justice, and two appointed by the President of Brazil from six lawyers of notable juridical knowledge nominated by the Supreme Federal Court.