The Full Court of the Supreme Federal Court decided on Thursday (the 3rd) that free legal aid in labor proceedings can only be granted upon proof of income. The decision establishes that the benefit will be granted to all who prove income of up to R$ 5 thousand. The case was reported by the president of the Court, Justice Edson Fachin.
The decision contradicts the practice adopted by the Superior Labor Court, which allowed the obtaining of free legal assistance merely with the presentation of the declaration of economic hardship, without the need for proof of income.
The rapporteur of the case, Justice Edson Fachin, and Justice Carmen Lúcia were in the minority in the case. Fachin had proposed that, even in cases of relative presumption of hardship, judges could deny the free legal aid benefit if they found assets or family income incompatible with such presumption, always respecting the proportionality judgment and the analysis of the interests involved in the specific case.
