Brazil's 4 Court Levels: Know Where Your Case Stands
From first instance to the Supreme Court
Por Lucas Ribeiro Cavalcante — OAB/CE 44.673
Brazil's 4 Court Levels: Know Where Your Case Stands
From first instance to the Supreme Court
Por Lucas Ribeiro Cavalcante — OAB/CE 44.673
You open a court summons in Portuguese. Which court has your case? How long until it ends? For Common Law expats, Brazil feels like a maze. But the map is simpler than it looks.
4
main levels your case can climb: first instance, TJ/TRF, STJ, STF
Brazil follows Civil Law, not Common Law. Judges apply written codes, not precedent. Therefore your case rests on statutes, not on what a judge decided years ago. But there is one exception.
“
Binding summaries from the STF do force lower courts to obey. So precedent quietly slipped into the system.
✘ Mito
Myth: every dispute reaches the Supreme Court
✓ Verdade
Truth: only constitutional questions reach the STF
Where you go depends on your dispute. Rental fights and divorces run through State Justice, ending at the TJ. But immigration matters follow a completely different road.
Dica
Visa disputes, CRNM problems, deportation appeals and naturalization denials go through Federal Justice, because they involve the Federal Police, INSS or Receita Federal.
State Justice: family, rental
Federal Justice: immigration
Labor, Electoral, Military branches
Know exactly where your case stands and whether an appeal is still possible.