O direito à mentira no entendimento do Supremo Tribunal Federal

Abstract

Liers, as a constant in society, permeate all social relationships, not exempting the legal sphere, especially within the criminal process. Therefore, aiming to comprehend how the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) understands the use of lies by the defendant during criminal prosecution, this paper seeks to analyze, in a thorough and comprehensive manner, the understanding of the Supreme Court regarding the right to lie as a consequence of the right to silence, as provided in the constitutional text. To achieve this, it will analyze the main academic works on the subject and, primarily, the most relevant judgments on the theme decided by the STF since 1988, the year of the promulgation of the current Federal Constitution. In this sense, it will be possible to conclude, based on the position of the Supreme Federal Court, about the existence of the right to lie as a form of self-defense stemming from the principle against selfincrimination, as well as to detail the limits, contours, misconceptions, and consequences of this understanding.