Federal Public Defender's Office (DPU): what it does and how to request help

The Federal Public Defender's Office (Defensoria Pública da União, DPU) is a permanent institution of the federal public administration and essential to the State's judicial function, created by the 1988 Federal Constitution and organized by Complementary Law No. 80/1994. Its mission is to provide legal guidance, promote human rights and defend, at all levels, in and out of court, the individual and collective rights of those who cannot afford a lawyer or the costs of a lawsuit.

What the DPU does

The DPU works along three complementary lines:

• full, free legal assistance before the Federal, Labor, Electoral and Military Courts, the Superior Courts and the Supreme Federal Court (STF);
• out-of-court action to resolve disputes through agreements;
• preventive and advisory legal guidance.

Its areas of work include INSS social security and welfare benefits, health, housing, education, consumer rights and matters involving federal bodies such as Caixa Econômica and the postal service (Correios). The DPU also defends vulnerable groups: migrants, refugees, homeless people, victims of violence and workers rescued from conditions analogous to slavery.

How to contact the DPU

The DPU is present in all 27 state capitals and in several inland cities, with more than 70 service units. Citizens should go directly to the nearest unit, since the institution has no intermediaries. Service is also available through remote channels offered by regional units, such as e-mail and WhatsApp, for municipalities covered by the interiorization plan.

The DPU also keeps a permanent on-duty service for urgent matters (risk to life, to liberty or loss of a right), on weekends, holidays and outside normal hours.

Who is entitled to DPU assistance

To be served, applicants must prove insufficient resources. The general benchmark is gross family income of up to R$ 2,000, under CSDPU Resolutions No. 133/2016 and No. 134/2016.

If income is higher, applicants may show that they lack the means to pay a lawyer, for example by documenting excessive spending on medication or other essential expenses.

DPU or State Public Defender's Office: which to choose

Knowing the DPU means knowing that access to justice does not depend on financial ability. For workers whose rights were violated, for insured persons denied an INSS benefit, for citizens dealing with a federal body or for anyone in a vulnerable situation, the DPU is the institutional route to defend rights.

The distinction between the DPU and the State Public Defender's Office is essential. The DPU handles cases involving the Union or federal bodies. The State Public Defender's Office handles cases involving the State, the municipality or private parties. Knowing which to approach keeps a legitimate claim from getting lost in the wrong channel.

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