The recent crisis between the Brazilian president Jair Messias Bolsonaro and the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras may result in a wave of investors’ claims submitted to arbitration against the Brazilian Federal Government for abuse of controlling power and breach of fiduciary duties under the Brazilian Companies Act 1976. During a live broadcast on February…

In a dispute involving the Centro Brasileiro de Mediação e Arbitragem – CBMA (“CBMA”) and the Brazilian Federal Revenue’s Office (“FRO”), the Brazilian Federal Court of Appeals prevented FRO from accessing data of arbitration proceedings administered by CBMA. The CBMA, an arbitral institution with headquarters in the city of Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio…

The development of the Brazilian Arbitration Act concerning the Public Administration Under the original wording of article 1 of Law no. 9.307/96 (“Brazilian Arbitration Act”), any capable person was entitled to resort to arbitration to settle disputes relating to patrimonial and disposable rights. By referring to capable persons, article 1 of the Brazilian Arbitration Act…

A long-term dispute between Libra Terminais S.A., Libra Terminais Santos S.A., two companies belonging to one of the major port operating groups in Brazil (“Libra Terminais”), and the Dock Companies for the State of São Paulo (“CODESP”) seems to have been concluded by a recent arbitral award. The dispute concerned a concession agreement of two…

A judge of the public law courts of the State of São Paulo concluded that a dispute arising out of a turn-key agreement entered into by a State-owned company and several construction companies for the construction of a new underground line in the city of São Paulo should not have been referred to arbitration. The…