State of Rio Grande do Sul v. Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rio Grande do Sul

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Rio Grande do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Rio Grande do Sul’s Court of Justice. The Court of Justice found that the Public Prosecutor was not entitled to bring an action on the behalf of an individual, because any individual may bring an action in their own name. The Court of Justice found that under the law, the Public Prosecutor may bring actions relating to trans-individual (communal) interests and diffuse interests.

The Court found that the Constitution of Brazil ensures the right to human dignity, life and health, and to instrumentalities for the realization of those rights. Therefore, the Court found that the Public Prosecutor was able to bring actions on behalf of individuals, in regards to promoting and protecting individual rights, including the right to health.

" A essencialidade do direito à saúde fez com que o legislador constituinte qualificasse, como prestações de relevância pública, as ações e serviços de saúde (CF, art. 197), em ordem a legitimar a atuação do Ministério Público e do Poder Judiciário naquelas hipóteses em que os órgãos estatais, anomalamente, deixassem de respeitar o mandamento constitucional, frustrando-lhe, arbitrariamente, a eficácia jurídico-social, seja por intolerável omissão, seja por qualquer outra inaceitável modalidade de comportamento governamental desviante."