Reparation of environmental damages and statute of limitations: study of the brazilian Superior Court of Justice's decisions

This article aims to identify what is the prevailing thesis in the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) regarding the statute of limitations applied to environmental damages, since there is the lack of legal standard and the absence of consensus among the authors' opinions. The method used was the hypothetic-deductive model and the method of procedure was the Case Method. Currently, the predominant thesis in the STJ is the impossibility to claim the application of the Statute of limitation to redress environmental damages. The Court justifies its thesis due the fact the right to a clean environment derives from the right to life, which is a fundamental right, as long the reparation is not for individual claims. Concerning environmental derivative damages the statute of limitations is 5 years since the unequivocal knowledge of the damage.