As demand on the Judiciary was becoming intense, with a growing number of suits and cases, largely the result of the accessibility generated by the multiplication of first instance Courts, the STF found itself in a critical situation of unmanageable volume of service, urging for a correcting measure.

As the National Constitution Assembly started in 1987, one of the earliest projects to be included and eventually approved was the creation of a new National Court, in parallel with the already existing Superior Labour, Military and Electoral Tribunals, placing the STF on a higher degree.

The STJ was physically placed in the building previously occupied by the Federal Court of Appeals (Portuguese: Tribunal Federal de Recursos [tɾibuˈnaw fedeˈɾaw dʒi ʁeˈkuʁsus], also called TFR, IPA: [ˌteɛʁiˈɛfi] or [ˌtjɛʁiˈɛfi]).

The TFR was a stand-alone Tribunal mainly designed to hear all ordinary appeals from decisions by Federal Judges.

It was extinguished by the 1988 Constitution, which distributed all its competence to the new Federal Regional Courts (a total of five, placed around the national territory), with the Ministers from the TFR becoming the initial Justices of the STJ.