The systemic reform in the collection of (initial) court fees in Brazil proposed by CNJ in 2019 and the equality in the cost of access to state judicial service

Abstract

This article deals with the unequal way of setting initial court costs in the Courts of Justice of the States and the Federal District. The diversity of values ​​creates differences among those under jurisdiction that are not based on known factors, which violates the principle of equality. The proposal for reform on the subject produced by the CNJ improves, however, it does not resolve the issue, since, despite setting minimum and maximum limits on costs, it does not price the judicial service and does not impose on States the obligation to substantiate the values ​​established with a view to demonstrate some measurable objective criterion, such as, for example, the regional IDH. Finally, the draft still increases uncertainty regarding the cost of litigation due to the use of indeterminate legal concepts to allow for the reduction and subsequent collection of costs. Therefore, the proposal deserves improvements by the Legislative Power in order to reduce such regional inequalities, determining the fixing of costs with support in an objectively measurable criterion, as well as eliminating semantic doubts regarding the content of the legal provisions.