Modificação do pedido e da causa de pedir, na jurisprudência do Superior Tribunal de Justiça, como instrumento do acesso à justiça

Abstract

The prohibition against modification of the original complaint is a mechanism adopted, in the vast majority of strict legal procedural orders, in order to prevent the introduction of new issues over the course of a lawsuit and thus enhance the speed of proceedings. On the other hand, however, it creates a situation where many issues that are not raised during the course of such proceedings are covered in subsequent claims or complaints, even though they tend to involve the same parties in court battles connected to the original suit. This generates needless multiplication of related cases and, as a result, an increase in the number of cases before the Judiciary that could be avoided or minimized. This study examines the jurisprudence built up at the level of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) over the course of its 20 years existence, especially regarding the topic of modifying the objective element of the complaint, in order to identify the main lines of interpretation laid down by that higher court as regards this specific issue. Likewise, this study has also sought to examine the doctrinal works related to this same subject, with a view to tracing the evolution of the interpretation of jurists and verifying if it is in keeping, and to what extent, with the path dictated by STJ s jurisprudence.