How Brazil Pays Court-Ordered Claims: Precatorios Explained (2026)
When a person or company wins a final judgment against a Brazilian government entity, payment follows a constitutional budget and queue process.
What a Brazilian precatorio is
When a person or company wins a final, non-appealable judgment against Brazil's federal, state or municipal government, payment generally follows a constitutional court-order process. The resulting payment order is known in Brazil as a precatorio.
Where court-ordered claims come from
The most common economic origins include:
- unpaid or underpaid social-security amounts;
- unpaid remuneration claims for public servants (salary differences, career progression, legal addons);
- expropriation cases;
- tax overpayment (indebito tributario) and tax-refund litigation;
- State civil-liability damages;
- other contractual/administrative claims against public entities.
The legal origin matters because it determines the evidence, procedural history and payment authority that must be reviewed.
From final judgment to the payment queue
Most claims move through three stages:
- merits phase (knowledge phase);
- enforcement/liquidation (calculation stage);
- requisition issuance (entry into constitutional queue and budget cycle).
Once issued, the requisition enters a constitutional calendar and chronological queue administered by the competent court.
General payment regime (including the Union)
After EC 136/2025, the constitutional cut-off moved to February 1.
- requisitions presented by February 1, Y enter Y+1 chronology;
- requisitions presented on February 2, Y or later move to Y+2 chronology.
Example:
- February 1, 2026 -> 2027 chronology
- February 2, 2026 -> 2028 chronology
A one-day shift around the cut-off can move a requisition into the next budget cycle.
Special payment regime
For states, the Federal District, and municipalities with overdue stock, payment follows constitutional annual limits and court-supervised operational governance.
CNJ Resolution 303/2019 is a key operational reference for chronology controls and payment channels.
Public scale and a methodological caution
Brazil publishes separate datasets for requisitions issued, budgeted amounts, and payments executed. Those series are material, but they are not interchangeable and cannot be aligned one-to-one by simply shifting calendar years. For a sourced view of issuance and payment as separate series, see our Federal Precatorios Guide.
These official figures describe public payment-order flow; they are not a measure of private transaction volume.
Methodology
This guide separates the constitutional text, court-administration rules and official public data. It explains the framework in plain English and does not predict payment dates for an individual claim.
Sources
- EC 136/2025
- EC 113/2021
- CNJ Resolution 303/2019
- Ministry of Planning report (competence 2025)
- Ministry of Planning report (competence 2026)
- CNJ Annual Precatorios Map 2024
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For questions about the methodology or official-source references, contact our research team.
