The Constitucional Complaint in the STF

Non-Observance of due process and the right to a full defense for workers

Abstract

The present article critically analyzes the performance of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) in judging the Reclamação Constitucional (Rcl), an instrument for preserving the authority of its binding precedents. Despite its legal nature as an autonomous challenge action, which requires the observance of due process of law and the right to full defense, the STF has adopted the practice of summarily granting these complaints through monocratic decisions, without promoting the prior citation of the opposing party (the beneficiary of the challenged act). This conduct represents a setback and a blatant violation of fundamental human rights, especially when the quashed act benefits workers in the face of decisions from the Labor Court. Given the absence of effective procedural instruments for the review of STF decisions delivered without prior due process, a legislative intervention by the National Congress becomes urgent. This intervention should, by complementing the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure (CPC/2015), make the formation of prior due process to the decision granting the complaint an expressly mandatory and unavoidable procedure, under penalty of nullity of the decision, thus observing the procedural guarantees of workers.