How to read legal citations in Brazil
Brazilian court decisions are identified by the court, the kind of action and a number. Statutes are cited by number and year, with the article.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Style guide: ABNT standards and court conventions. Brazilian citations use the court's abbreviation and the type of action with its number.
Real citations, decoded
Click or hover over any underlined piece to see what it means.
A Supreme Federal Court decision Case
, ()
- Court STF
Supremo Tribunal Federal, the Federal Supreme Court. - Type of action ADI
Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade, a direct action asking the court to strike down a law. - Number 4277
The case number. This case recognised same-sex stable unions, together with ADPF 132. - Year 2011
The year of the judgment.
A Civil Code article Statute
(Código Civil),
- Statute Lei nº 10.406/2002
Law number 10,406 of 2002, which is the Civil Code. - Article art. 186
Article 186, on unlawful acts.
A constitutional article Constitution
,
- Document CF/1988
Constituição Federal of 1988. - Article art. 5º
Article 5, the list of fundamental rights. º marks the ordinal numbers up to nine.
A binding precedent summary Case law
,
- Document type Súmula Vinculante
A binding summary issued by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) from repeated decisions. All courts and the administration must follow it. - Number 11
The number of the summary. This one limits the use of handcuffs. - Court STF
Supremo Tribunal Federal, the Supreme Federal Court.
A consumer-protection statute Statute
(),
- Law number Lei nº 8.078/1990
Brazilian laws are named by number and year. The dot in 8.078 is a thousands separator. - Name Código de Defesa do Consumidor
The Consumer Protection Code. - Article art. 6º
Article 6 lists the basic rights of the consumer. The sign º after the number means 'ordinal', used for articles 1 to 9.
Things to remember
- RE means recurso extraordinário (an appeal on constitutional grounds). HC means habeas corpus. REsp is a special appeal to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
- Súmulas are short statements of settled case law, cited by number, such as Súmula 11 do STF.
Where to find the text, free
To understand how courts and law fit together in Brazil, read the Brazil profile in the Legal Families Atlas.
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TheLawToKnow Tools’s citation guide is an educational overview of standard conventions. Courts and journals sometimes vary, so check the style guide before submitting or publishing. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.
