THE INCOHERENCIES WITHIN THE PRECEDENT SYSTEM OF THE BRAZILIAN SUPREME COURT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ADPF 402 AND THE CRIMINAL SUIT 4070

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12662/2447-6641oj.v21i38.p103-119.2023

Keywords:

ADPF 402, criminal action 4070, Supreme Court, precedents, coherence

Abstract

Background: The system of precedents in Brazil was established with the advent of the Code of Civil Procedure of 2015, binding the courts to the theses established by the competent courts. However, mere positivization does not generate efficacy, requiring certain behaviors for the sake of standardization of law. However, even though it adopts certain precedents, the Federal Supreme Court shows preference for monocratic decisions over effective debate by the Court, which generates inconsistency in the creation and application of binding precedents. The present article studies two eminently political cases: ADPF 402 and Criminal Action 4070, which had as subjects the former President of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, and the former President of the Federal Senate, Renan Calheiros.

Objective: To demonstrate the inconsistencies of the Federal Supreme Court in the creation and application of precedents.

Method: We prioritized the hypothetical-deductive method and the case study of ADPF 402 and the Criminal Action 4070.

Results: The article shows that, as a rule, there is no effective collegial deliberation able to demonstrate the ratio decidendi in the decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and that the absence of full collegial deliberation makes it impossible to generate precedents that result from the understanding of the Court on the subject, which can lead to institutional instability when the decisions rendered have a high political impact on the other Powers.

Conclusions: The Supreme Federal Court tends not to use binding judicial precedents as a limiting factor for its political actions, and as a rule is not concerned with keeping its jurisprudence stable, integral and coherent.

Author Biographies

Peter Panutto, Puc-Campinas Faculdade de Direito

Membro do corpo docente permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação stricto sensu em Direito (PPGD) da PUC-Campinas, no qual é docente da disciplina Jurisdição Constitucional Democrática. Professor de Direito Constitucional na Faculdade de Direito da PUC-Campinas. Membro do Grupo de Pesquisa Direito e Realidade Social (CNPq/PUC-Campinas), com atuação na Linha de Pesquisa Direitos Humanos e Políticas Públicas, principalmente em temas envolvendo jurisdição constitucional. Mestre (2012) e Doutor (2015) em Direito - Área de Concentração: Sistema Constitucional de Garantia de Direitos pela Instituição Toledo de Ensino. Lançou em 2013 a obra "Inelegibilidades - Um Estudo dos Direitos Políticos diante da Lei da Ficha Limpa"  e em 2017 a obra "Precedentes Judiciais Vinculantes: o sistema jurídico-processual brasileiro antes e depois do CPC de 2015". Foi Diretor da Faculdade de Direito da PUC- Campinas de 01 de fevereiro de 2010 a 31 de janeiro de 2018. Pós-doutorado pelo Departamento de Direito de Estado da Faculdade de Direito da USP, sob a supervisão do professor doutor Conrado Hübner Mendes. Membro da INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION - IPSA. Secretário de Justiça de Campinas-SP. Visiting Scholar na Washington University in St. Louis.

Maria Lívia Custódio Rangel, Faculdade de Direito PUC-Campinas

Graduanda na Faculdade de Direito da PUC-Campinas

Realizou pesquisa de IC em 2018 com bolsa FAPIC e em 2019 com bolsa Fapesp 

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Published

2023-05-18

How to Cite

PANUTTO, Peter; RANGEL, Maria Lívia Custódio. THE INCOHERENCIES WITHIN THE PRECEDENT SYSTEM OF THE BRAZILIAN SUPREME COURT: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ADPF 402 AND THE CRIMINAL SUIT 4070. Revista Opinião Jurídica (Fortaleza), Fortaleza, v. 21, n. 38, p. 103–119, 2023. DOI: 10.12662/2447-6641oj.v21i38.p103-119.2023. Disponível em: https://unichristus.emnuvens.com.br/opiniaojuridica/article/view/4425. Acesso em: 16 apr. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 38 (2023)

Section

Artigos Originais

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