CNJ Lawsuit Number Generator

CNJ unified case number for Brazilian lawsuits

Every lawsuit filed in Brazil since CNJ Resolução 65/2008 carries a 20-digit Número Único de Processo issued by the Conselho Nacional de Justiça. Before the resolution, each court (state, federal, labor, electoral, military) used its own numbering schema, which made cross-tribunal lookups almost impossible. The CNJ number is now the canonical identifier on every petition, decision and certificate.

Anatomy of the 20-digit number

The canonical layout, with mask, is:

NNNNNNN-DD.AAAA.J.TR.OOOO

• NNNNNNN — 7-digit sequential number inside the originating unit
• DD — two check digits computed with modulo 97
• AAAA — year the suit was filed (4 digits)
• J — branch of the Judiciary: 1 STF, 2 CNJ, 3 STJ, 4 Federal, 5 Labor, 6 Electoral, 7 Federal Military, 8 State, 9 State Military
• TR — two-digit tribunal code (e.g. TJSP, TRF3, TRT15)
• OOOO — four-digit code of the originating unit (court room, vara, juizado)

How the check digits are computed

The algorithm is modulo 97 on the integer formed by all 18 non-DV digits in the order NNNNNNN AAAA J TR OOOO followed by 00. The check digits are 98 minus that remainder, padded to two digits. This is the same family of validation used by IBAN numbers.

Where to look up a real case

Public consultation depends on the tribunal: PJe (Processo Judicial Eletrônico) is the CNJ-sponsored standard and concentrates labor, federal and several state courts. eproc covers TRFs and southern state courts. Projudi and eSAJ are widely used by state courts (TJSP runs on eSAJ). The CNJ PJe Connect portal aggregates queries across systems.

Privacy and segredo de justiça

Roughly one third of Brazilian cases run under segredo de justiça (sealed proceedings) — family, juvenile and certain commercial matters — and are only accessible to the parties and their lawyers via OAB login. Since the LGPD entered into force in 2020, many tribunals also pseudonymize the parties' names ("F. K. R." instead of the full name) in public listings.

FAQ

Can I read an ongoing case online? Usually yes — Brazilian justice is publicity-by-default. Use the tribunal's public consultation page with the 20-digit number. Cases under segredo de justiça require party or lawyer login.

How do I monitor a case for new movements? Free services such as Jusbrasil, Escavador and JusPush send e-mail alerts whenever the docket changes. Several OAB chapters offer their members the same feature.

Does the format differ by state? No. Only the J (segment) and TR (tribunal) digits change. The 20-digit layout and the modulo-97 check digits are nationally uniform.

Can I use these generated numbers in production? No. They pass the modulo-97 check but do not match any real docket. Use them only for tests, demos and form-validation development.