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Abstract

This article aims to analyze the Superior Court of Justice's (STJ) jurisprudential trend regarding the interpretation of Article 54 of Law No. 9.605/1998 in light of the principles that guide the normativity and interpretation of criminal law. Specialized literature suggests that the protection of the environment as a diffuse right—ensuring a healthy and balanced environment for future generations—justifies interpreting Article 54, which addresses the crime of pollution, as an offense of abstract endangerment. The STJ's jurisprudence appears to adopt this perspective. By considering it an offense of abstract endangerment, the mere violation of an administrative rule qualifying an act as pollution may suffice to establish criminal liability, regardless of the absence of disvalue in the result concerning potential risks to human health. It is argued that the minimum degree of harmfulness required by the criminal type must be considered for the crime to be realized, necessitating a concrete assessment of the conduct's impact on human health.