Week Of Special Courts In The State Of Tocantins Begins With Talks On The Prospects And Challenges Of The Consumer Law

The protection of the consumer time and the theory of productive deviation opened the dialogues of the “Seminar on Special Courts: Consumer Rights, Civil Liability, Perspectives and Challenges”, on Monday morning (June 3rd), in the auditorium of the Court of Justice of the State of Tocantins (TJTO). The event, which will be held throughout the day, marks the beginning of the National Week of the Courts at the regional level and it aims to deepen the essential themes related to consumer rights, a major mark in the Brazilian legislation that the Special Courts have helped to make effective.  

At the opening of the event, the Chief of Justice, Maysa Vendramini Rosal, highlighted the need to disseminate and raise awareness among the population about the workings and benefits of the Special Courts.  

According to her, it is important to encourage capacity building and training so that the courts continue to be a more agile, simplified and accessible form of justice, always aiming for continuous improvement in the services provided.

I'm sure that this week will see a lot of progress, with the broad participation of the people involved in the judicial and administrative units, which will provide an opportunity for dialogue, always in search of improvement and also to improve the system.

The coordinator of the Unified Judicial Secretariat of the Special Courts and head of the 4th Special Civil and Criminal Court of the District of Palmas, Judge Rubem Ribeiro de Carvalho, stressed that the Special Courts Week is aimed at improving and enhancing the Special Courts system in search of dialogue and the construction of tools to improve the provision of services to citizens through the system.

The magistrate stressed that since its creation in 1995, the Special Courts have brought great results for the Brazilian justice in terms of bringing the judiciary closer to the citizen, who can directly seek a solution for lawsuits of up to 20 minimum wages; or through lawyers, for lawsuits of more than 20 minimum wages and less than 40 minimum wages, in the Civil and Criminal Courts; and 60 minimum wages in the Public Treasury Courts. “This possibility allows for greater speed in the provision of justice,” he stressed, adding that, in the face of the constantly changing scenario, it is essential for everyone to be up-to-date and prepared to face the challenges that arise, “always seeking to improve our knowledge and practices in favor of a fairer and more equitable society.”

Time and Law

Lais Bergstein, a lawyer and lecturer in the Master's and Doctorate Program in Business Law and Citizenship (Unicuritiba), began by talking about the influence of time and the law on consumers. "Time in consumer relations is intrinsically linked. It's so close to us that we don't realize it,” she said.

According to the speaker, consumers are surrounded by a system that accentuates their vulnerability. “Everyone is vulnerable, but in this digital, technological environment, with so many innovations that are both positive and challenging from a human and human security point of view, we are vulnerable,” she emphasized, pointing out that care must be taken precisely because people are immersed in this technological environment and don't realize how they are manipulated.

On the occasion, the lawyer brought practical examples of responsive design to show how consumers are being induced into harmful behavior without realizing it. She also spoke about how time interferes in contractual relationships, how to manage that time and the evolution of litigation practices.

The panel was coordinated by Judge Rubem Ribeiro de Carvalho 

The Theory of Productive Deviation

Lawyer and author of the Theory of Productive Deviation, Marcos Dessaune, spoke about “The Theory of Productive Deviation and the Thesis of Mere Boredom”, at a panel coordinated by the Judge of the 5th Special Court of the District of Palmas, Gilson Coelho Valadares.

“There is a traditional confusion between off-balance sheet damages and moral damages,” began the speaker, bringing up both outdated and current concepts about the nomenclatures.

Regarding productive deviation, the lawyer explained that it arose when he was developing his customer service code. According to the lawyer, productive deviation is not another category of damage. Unlike material and moral damage, productive deviation “is a harmful event”.  And he explains that the theory holds that the productive deviation of the consumer is an eventual damage, which originates in anti-legal consumer problems, i.e. products and services with defects and abusive practices committed in the market, created by the suppliers themselves.

And in terms of legal behavior, the lecturer mentions that these suppliers steal themselves their responsibility to solve problems. "This leads the vulnerable, the weak party, which is the consumer, to confront them. If they give up on the situation, in theory there is no damage, but when they face these problems, because they are precisely the vulnerable party, they will incur some damage,” he explained.

For the speaker, time is an economic good, because it is scarce in relation to the demand for it, “in other words, we always want more time to enjoy than the share we receive in life, so time is an economic good. And every economic good is a legal good. Therefore, if time is scarce, as well as being unaccumulative and unrecoverable, then time is the most valuable economic and legal good that each person has in their existence."

Presences

The event was also attended by Arióstenis Guimarães Vieira, an assistant Judge in the General Internal Affairs of Justice; Julianne Freire Marques, Vice-President of the Association of the Brazilian Magistrates; Flávia Afini Bovo, Social Director of the Association of the Magistrates of the State of Tocantins, representing the President, Alan Martins Ferreira; and Priscila Madruga, Vice-President of the Brazilian Bar Association, Tocantins Section (OAB-TO).

Week

Coordinated by the National Council of Justice (CNJ), through the National Committee of Special Courts (Conaje), the 1st National Week of Special Courts takes place from today (June 3rd) until next Friday (June 7th). The aim is to value, give visibility to and improve the Special Courts throughout the country. The CNJ established National Week of Special Courts as an annual event, to be held every first week of June.