ABSTRACT
The article analyzes the policy of judicial reform from 1974 to 1977, exploring the supporting role of the Supreme Court in the governmental strategy of political distension and the changing significance of reform in the political process. The immediate outcome was the imposition of the reform and the continuation of the controlled transition, but the mobilization of lawyers had impacts for the democratizing front and the model of judicial institutions adopted by it.
KEYWORDS:
political transition; Federal Supreme Court (Brazil); judicial reform; mobilization of law; Geisel government