The Vice President of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Minister Luis Felipe Salomão, has admitted the processing of an Extraordinary Appeal (RE) that questions the application of the Selic rate to update civil debts. With this, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) will analyze the constitutionality of the measure.
The STJ has discussed for years which interest rate would be applicable based on Article 406 of the Civil Code. However, during the trial of the case under analysis, Law 14,905/2024 was sanctioned, which added §1 to the aforementioned article, expressly confirming the use of the Selic rate.
Before the filing of the Extraordinary Appeal, the Special Court of the Superior Court of Justice had already reached an understanding that, in civil debts, default interest should be calculated based on the Selic rate, as provided for in Article 406 of the Civil Code. This is because this rate is already adopted for tax debts owed to the National Treasury. On the same occasion, the panel ruled out the application of the default interest rate provided for in Article 161, §1, of the National Tax Code, on the grounds that this rule applies exclusively to tax credits.
The case under analysis originated in a claim for compensation for a traffic accident that occurred in 2013. The plaintiff is entitled to receive R$20,000, but since then, the method of updating this amount has been under discussion. Even after the new legislation came into effect and the STJ decision establishing the Selic rate as the applicable rate, the plaintiff filed an Extraordinary Appeal with the STF, arguing that the application of the Selic rate may, in certain cases, result in a correction lower than inflation, violating the constitutional principle of full compensation. When admitting the appeal, Justice Salomão highlighted that, depending on the calculation criteria (monthly accumulation or daily multiplication of the Selic rate), there may be a devaluation of the credit over time. Thus, it will be up to the STF to assess whether the use of the Selic rate in this way is compatible with the Constitution, especially with regard to the protection of assets and fair compensation for damages.
From this perspective, the controversy over the application of the Selic rate in the updating of civil debts is highly relevant, and the STF’s analysis will be crucial to define the constitutional limits of the application of the Selic rate and, possibly, establish criteria that promote legal certainty on the subject.
Aline Rossi | aline@nascimentomourao.adv.br
Coordinating Partner of the Strategic Litigation area, specialist in Civil Procedural Law and Contracts.
Matheus Selaibe de Souza | matheus.souza@nascimentomourao.adv.br
Lawyer in the Strategic Litigation area.
