Benefício por incapacidade permanente física ou mental: análise das decisões do Tribunal Regional Federal da 1ª Região e Tribunal Regional Federal da 6ª Região

Abstract

In an eminently empirical research, judicial decisions of the Regional Federal Court of the 1st Region (1989–2023) and the Regional Federal Court of the 6th Region (08/19/2022–2023) were analyzed in lawsuits claiming disability retirement due to physical or mental illnesses. The aim was to identify which type of illness prevails as a basis for the request in order to understand decision-making patterns and possible trends in granting the benefit. In addition, the research analyzed possible discrepancies in the full granting of the reform of the decision, investigating whether there is a differentiation in the treatment between physical and mental illnesses, in order to verify the existence of possible prejudices or inequalities in the assessment of the demands, especially with regard to the characterization of incapacity and the grounds for judicial decisions. In the empirical research, quantitative and qualitative data analysis was performed, with a survey of 81 decisions (77 in TRF-1 and 4 in TRF-6) located using terms such as “disability retirement; physical illness” and “disability retirement; mental illness”. The selected decisions were derived from appeals with the INSS as the passive party and requests for disability retirement in the original process. The data were tabulated in comparative cross-tabulations. A higher prevalence of mental illnesses as the basis for the requests was found (60 cases) in relation to physical illnesses (21 cases). There was a greater tendency to reform decisions in cases of physical incapacity. Secondarily, greater coherence was observed between decisions and grounds in cases of mental illness, in addition to greater acceptance, by judges, of the judicial expert opinion and the claims of the claimant. When informed, the claimants' profession was predominantly physical activities. There were no decisions in which the expert declared capacity for another function.