‎Brazil News

Unanimously, the ministers of the 1st Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) maintained, this Tuesday (12/12), a decision of the Court of Justice of the State of Minas Gerais (TJMG) that condemned the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God to pay R$ 23 million in compensation for collective property and moral damages, for the demolition of three properties declared cultural heritage sites in Belo Horizonte, without prior authorization or license.

 

The Board followed the understanding of the process rapporteur, Minister Sérgio Kukina. However, the minister highlighted that, in his vote, he would be taking a stand for maintaining the aggravated monocracy.

 

In the interlocutory appeal filed by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, it maintains that there was a violation of art. 398 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), which provides whenever one of the parties requests the addition of a document to the case file, the judge will hear the other party's case within 5 days.

 

 

For Kukina, failure to comply with article 398 of the CPC does not generate absolute nullity, but relative nullity. The minister states that he considered, at first, recognizing the offense to this device that preserves the precept of broad defense and contradictory, but he says that the Public Ministry managed to demonstrate that after the document was attached, “there were successive interventions in the case by part of the Church, which indicates that it had the opportunity to express itself.”

 

Kukina also highlighted that the Universal Church challenged the value sought by the Public Prosecutor's Office as property damage. “To this extent, all after fruitless attempts, all leading to the understanding that the content of this technical document brought to the file by the MP did not go unnoticed, even though there was no subpoena or specific communication”, he declared.

 

Regarding the compensation aspects, Kukina also stated that he did not recognize the existence of an ultra petita judgment, that is, beyond what was requested, since the Public Prosecutor's Office requested a conviction for property and moral damage. ”Therefore, I verified that there was, indeed, room for the court to accept the claim for compensation for material damage, as actually occurred. I also did not verify the occurrence of nullity that could result from the fact that the judge had, in a motion for clarification, changed the regime relating to late payment interest” he concluded.

 

Understand the condemnation of the Universal Church

The Public Ministry of the State of Minas Gerais (MPMG) filed a public civil action holding the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God responsible for the destruction, without prior authorization or license, of three houses located in Belo Horizonte (MG), which, due to their historical and cultural value, they were considered historical heritage.

 

In the 1st degree, the Universal Church was ordered to pay compensation for property damage caused to the cultural environment in the amount of R$ 18,768,243.63 and to pay R$ 15 million in compensation for collective moral damages.

 

On appeal, the TJMG reformed the sentence, reducing the amount of compensation for collective moral damage to R$5 million. Furthermore, he also ordered the Universal Church to build a memorial in reference to the destroyed buildings.

 

In the special appeal, the Universal Church claimed that it could not be condemned for damage to historical and cultural heritage because the properties were demolished when the legal process for listing them did not yet exist, also questioning the value of the compensation set by the TJMG.

 

The process is being processed as REsp 1,690,956/MG.