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Doing Business in Brazil
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1. Brazilian Legal System
Brazil follows the civil law system, which means that it has its bases in written and codified legislations. In this sense, several statutes rule the main areas of law, such as the Civil Code, the Civil Procedure Code, and the Commercial Code.
Even though Brazil does not follow the common law system, judicial precedents are also taken into consideration in civil cases, although not regularly binding. In this sense, along with the applicable law, judges and courts may also consider previous decisions on similar cases, especially when admitting appeals.
2. Jurisdiction
The Brazilian legal system is divided into two branches of jurisdiction: State Courts and Federal Courts. The jurisdiction is defined based
on the matter under dispute and the nature of the parties involved
in the proceeding. For instance,
the jurisdiction of the Federal
Court is attracted when a Federal Government entity is involved in the case.
Each State has a State Court, and the general rule is that the lawsuit shall be filed on the defendant’s domicile.
In most cases, parties are allowed to contractually elect a venue in which the dispute shall be brought, as well as the applicable law.
Parties are also allowed to designate
The Brazilian legal system is divided into two branches of jurisdiction: State Courts and Federal Courts.
an arbitration panel to settle their disputes. The Law n. 9,307/1996 regulates arbitration procedures in Brazil. Over the past 25 years, Brazil has increasingly embraced arbitration as an important method to resolve disputes, with a strong position of Brazilian Courts and Authorities in recognizing the enforceability of arbitration clauses and arbitrator’s decisions.
There are a large number of arbitral institutions with international reputation established in Brazil, such as ICC (International Court of Commerce), Centro de Arbitragem e Mediação da Câmara de Comérico Brasil-Canadá (CAM-CBMA)
and Câmara FGV de Mediação e Arbitragem (FGV).
3. Court Proceeding
The main steps of a judicial procedure before the Brazilian Courts are the following:
3.1 Pleading and Mediation Hearing
The Brazilian proceeding begins with the filing of the initial application setting out the facts and the legal