Civil liability for judicial harassment and the right to freedom of expression

Abstract

This article deals with the dysfunctional use of the right of access to justice, in the event that the agent's purpose is to constrain the full exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, and its consequences in the field of civil liability. To face this problem, it proposes at first to reflect on the abusive exercise of the right of action and how the massification of social relations can impact its characterization and, in a second moment, to present cases in which the abusive exercise of the right to sue constitutes predatory judicialization that, in addition to causing damages to the party that can be repaired, violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Based on documentary and bibliographical research, it’s concluded that both the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code point to the possibility of claiming compensation for damages to anyone who litigates in bad faith using the process as a way to cause intimidation, revenge or coercion, making it possible to attribute civil liability to the person who acts coordinating the massive filing of claims.