System makes blocking of debtor's driver's license automatic.

Judges have gained speed in ordering the blocking of a debtor's national driver's license (CNH). The electronic system for judicial vehicle restrictions, Renajud, has been integrated into the electronic judicial process and now provides for this possibility. Until then, requests had to be made through paper letters to the National Traffic Department (Denatran).

This new feature is part of a technical cooperation agreement to improve the Renajud system, signed between the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the National Council of Justice (CNJ). In addition to this measure, judges will also be able to use the system to designate vehicles for auction and order the release of debts (IPVA, fines, and fees), ensuring the rapid transfer of assets to new owners.

Scheduled for January, the new measure will provide greater effectiveness to foreclosures, according to lawyers. The vehicle can be sold without any outstanding issues. There was strong resistance to the measure due to fear of losing the warranty, explains the Director-General of Denatran, Frederico de Moura Carneiro.

“Everything [the debts] will be linked to the debtor's CPF or CNPJ. The vehicle will have a new identity. The measure will reduce the number of vehicles in impound lots across the country,” says Carneiro. He adds that the creation of a new code is being studied – since there is no possibility of altering the National Registry of Motor Vehicles (Renavam) – to leave the vehicle “without a past.”

Today, according to Ana Paula de Carvalho Faro, legal advisor at Faro Leilões, a vehicle is auctioned off with these debts and, in certain situations, the release of the lien is only requested from the judge after the sale. "This measure will greatly facilitate the purchase of vehicles at auction," she states, adding that there is, however, a bottleneck in the system related to more than one restriction on the same asset.

Until now, the system only allowed the enforcement of court orders restricting vehicles. With the inclusion of driver's licenses in Renajud, the net is tightened even further around debtors. The measure, however, is controversial and is pending review by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

The ministers will judge the constitutionality of article 139, item IV, of the new Code of Civil Procedure (Law No. 13.105 of 2015). According to the provision, the magistrate may "determine all inductive, coercive, mandatory or subrogatory measures necessary to ensure compliance with a court order, including in actions whose object is pecuniary performance".

In the direct action of unconstitutionality (ADI 5941), the Workers' Party requests that measures that could be classified under the provision be declared unconstitutional - the blocking of national driver's licenses and passports, and the prohibition of participation in public competitions and bidding processes.

The case was placed on the Supreme Federal Court's agenda for October 28th, but was not judged. In its statement, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) opined in favor of the request. It defends the text of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, it excludes measures "that imply a restriction on individual liberties," such as the seizure of driver's licenses and passports.

In addition to blocking licenses, the Renajud system allows judges to suspend or even revoke driver's licenses. These penalties are provided for in the Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB).

According to the director-general of Denatran, the blocking is a judicial measure. It can be determined in cases of fraud or to force a person to pay what they owe, without a specific deadline for releasing the document. "A decision by the Supreme Court would not invalidate the tool," says Frederico Carneiro.

Denatran (National Traffic Department) does not have data on court orders to block driver's licenses. Only on other types of licenses. In 2019, 794,000 penalties were applied to suspend the right to drive and approximately 86,000 to revoke licenses.

According to lawyer Ricardo Siqueira, the measure planned for the auction of vehicles is positive, "one of the best changes ever made, as it allows many vehicles to be sold and put back into circulation." However, he criticizes the possibility of blocking driver's licenses. "One cannot, for the purpose of settling a debt, generate illegal constraint, violating the right to come and go," he says.

Lawyer Eduardo Kiralyhegy, partner at NMK Advogados, states that Renajud, until now, was limited and basically served to secure a debtor's assets. “The system is beginning to transform into a more useful tool. The judge will be able not only to block the vehicle, but also to facilitate the auction in a simpler way,” he says. “It gives more liquidity to the auction.”

Regarding the blocking of a debtor's driver's license, the lawyer emphasizes that the system is being built based on what the law authorizes. "It has to be implemented broadly," he states, adding that the measure has an effect similar to a protest for the driver who depends on the document to work.

The Supreme Court has not yet addressed the issue of blocking the driver's license of a debtor, but it has already deemed constitutional the imposition of the penalty of license suspension on professional drivers who have been convicted of manslaughter (without intent to kill) due to a traffic accident.

Source: Economic Value