How to count procedural deadlines under the CPC without missing the day

Missing a deadline is one of the most serious risks in a law firm's routine. The good news is that counting follows objective rules — and once they become routine, mistakes practically disappear.

1. Procedural deadlines run in business days

Since the 2015 Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), when a deadline is set in days, only business days are counted (art. 219). The rule applies to procedural deadlines; substantive-law periods (such as statutes of limitation) follow their own logic.

In practice, Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and days without court business are left out of the count.

2. Exclude the first day, include the last

Article 224 sets the golden rule: the starting day is excluded and the final day is included. If the start or the end falls on a day without court business — or with business closed earlier than usual, or with the electronic system unavailable — the deadline is extended to the next business day.

3. Electronic gazette: availability × publication

In the electronic court gazette there are two different milestones:

• Availability: the day the act appears in the gazette;
• Publication: deemed to occur on the next business day after availability;
• Start of the deadline: the next business day after publication.

Example: made available on Monday, published on Tuesday, the deadline starts running on Wednesday (with no holidays in between).

4. Service through the electronic portal

When service is made electronically, it is deemed completed on the day the recipient opens its content. If it is not opened, the law sets a period after which it is automatically deemed served — which is why it is so important to check the portal every day, not just the gazette.

5. Court recess: suspension from December 20 to January 20

Article 220 suspends procedural deadlines from December 20 to January 20, inclusive. The deadline stops during this period and resumes for the time that was left.

6. When the deadline is doubled

Some situations double the deadline:

• Public Treasury (art. 183) and Public Defender's Office (art. 186) — with the exceptions set by law;
• Co-parties with different attorneys from different firms (art. 229) — a rule that does not apply to electronic case files.

7. A checklist

1. Identify the starting point (publication, portal access, filing in the records, etc.).
2. Exclude the starting day.
3. Count only business days, according to the court's calendar (local holidays count!).
4. Check suspensions and doubled-deadline situations.
5. Record the deadline with a person in charge and a safety date before the due date.

Tip: keep proof of local holidays and system downtime. If timeliness is challenged, that proof settles the matter.

How IntegraLegal helps

In IntegraLegal, court notices arrive automatically, the AI suggests the deadline and the final deadline is calculated in business days, including holidays. Each deadline goes to the calendar with a person in charge and alerts in the system and by e-mail. Try it free for 7 days and see the count done for you.

Read also

• Final deadline: what it is and how to control it without relying on memory
• Local court holidays: the detail that can make a filing untimely
• Legal calculators: fewer spreadsheets, more precision

Notice: this content is for information only. It does not replace a lawyer's analysis of the specific case. Always check the legislation, case law and rules in force on the date of your consultation.