Nunes Marques votes against the lifetime revision of the INSS

Minister Nunes Marques, of the STF (Federal Supreme Court), voted against the lifetime revision of the INSS (National Social Security Institute) this Wednesday afternoon (30). After the vote, the judgment was suspended and should return to the agenda this Thursday (1st).

As Justice Marco Aurélio, retired in July of this year, voted, the review score is 1 to 1 in the STF.

In the action, retirees ask that all their contributions, including those made before the creation of the real, in 1994, be considered in the calculation of the average salary to increase social security income

The minister argued that acceptance of the revision “would have a relevant administrative impact”, “although the group of those actually benefited by the decision is not that large”.

“This has the potential to collapse INSS service. Another point that deserves consideration, in practical terms, if the decision is favorable, concerns the circumstances of previous remunerations not being well documented in the Social Security for several reasons”, he claimed.

The minister spoke of precarious documentation conditions, obsolete technologies at the time, lack of efficient data processing mechanisms and low levels of formal requirements.

The minister also said that the framework may imply an avalanche of lawsuits aimed at discussing the proof of the existence or otherwise of the right to review on a case-by-case basis, “the cost of which would greatly multiply the expected impact of the review itself”.

Nunes Marques added that the revision could also have effects on the country’s inflation, on salaries prior to 1994.

“When corrected for the present day, they will bring embedded high inflation rates from those years of uncontrolled prices, which would increase the ghost that we already considered extinct”, he declared.

JUDGMENT HAS ALREADY HAD MANEUVER AND TURNBACK

The lifetime review came to be judged in the virtual plenary in March 2022, after being stopped for about a year. At the time, the 11 justices presented their votes: 6 in favor of the revision and 5 against, but a request made by Minister Nunes Marques less than 30 minutes before the deadline interrupted the trial.

Nunes Marques’ maneuver, contrary to the theme, would do what if it were judged again, this time in the physical plenary, starting from scratch. A new report would be made by Minister André Mendonça, substitute for Marco Aurélio, rapporteur of the revision of the whole life.

In June, however, a new decision by the STF brought changes. The plenary decided that the votes of retired ministers presented in cases in the virtual plenary should be maintained in a new trial.

UNDERSTAND THE CORRECTION

The lifetime review reached the STF after retirees felt harmed by the disregard of pre-1994 contributions and tried, in court, to review the calculation. The lack of pacification on the subject made access to the law unequal, since each judge has an understanding.

“This offends the Constitution, because it gives the right to one person and not to another”, says lawyer Fernando Gonçalves Dias. “The superior courts were made to standardize the understanding.”

Over these years, there are people who went to court and managed to correct their pensions according to previous contributions to the Real Plan. In this case, the retiree may also have received the arrears corresponding to the five years prior to the start date of the process, since during this period he received a benefit of lesser value.

The insured person who retired in the last ten years is entitled to review, as long as it is before the 2019 pension reform.

CHANGE IN CALCULATION OF RETIREMENTS

The 1999 Social Security reform created two calculation formulas for the average salary (which is the basis of the benefit amount):

1. Transition rule: For those who were already insured with the INSS until November 26, 1999

2. Permanent rule: For those who started contributing to the INSS from November 27, 1999

With this, those who were already Social Security insured and concentrated their largest payments at the beginning of their professional life, before the creation of the Real Plan, were harmed.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THE REVIEW

Lifetime review can only be applied to beneficiaries who fit the following requirements:

• Entered the formal job market (with a formal contract or contributing individually) before July 1994

• He made a considerable part of his highest contributions to the INSS until July 1994 and then concentrated payments on lower amounts

• Received the first retirement payment less than ten years ago (maximum period to exercise the right to review the benefit)

• Retired before the beginning of the pension reform, in November 2019