THE CULTURE OF FREE CONVICTION AND RESISTANCE TO THE PRECEDENT SYSTEM

Abstract

This article analyzes the microsystem of binding precedents in the 2015 Code of Civil Procedure (CPC/2015), evaluating its compatibility with Brazilian procedural law and the need to overcome judicial solipsism. The study addresses the hybridization of the national legal system, which has incorporated elements of common law without losing its codified essence. The central problem of the research lies in the tension between the binding force of these precedents and the cultural resistance of part of the judiciary, which still relies on an anachronistic view of free reasoned conviction. It demonstrates that the exclusion of the term "freely" in article 371 of the CPC has reconfigured judicial autonomy, linking discretion to the theses of the Superior Courts. The text also examines the gap between the norm and forensic practice, highlighting procedural pathologies, such as the automated application of precedents and the ignorance of the ratio decidendi. It is concluded that the functional independence of the judge does not conflict with the binding system, but requires a new hermeneutics focused on distinguishing and overruling. Thus, effectiveness and legal certainty demand rigorous analytical reasoning and an urgent transformation in Brazilian procedural culture.