Arbitration to resolve international commercial disputes under the Brazilian arbitration act : is Brazil a good site for arbitration?

• Main Author: Amigo, Natalia Guajardo
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/15631

For a long time, Brazil remained faithful to its historic attitude of hostility towards arbitration. This placed Brazil in a state of dangerous isolation in times of fast technological changes, privatization, foreign investment and globalization affecting Latin America. The boom period of the mid 1990's was a time when large deals and contracts were signed and the seeds of modern international commercial arbitration were sown once again in the region. International investors and businesses setting up operations in Latin America demanded dispute resolution mechanisms that provided confidence and certainty that any disputes arising under contractual agreements were going to be resolved expeditiously, impartially and by knowledgeable experts. In this environment when privatization of telecommunications and hydroelectric power stations was occurring, the 1990's marked the renaissance of arbitration in Brazil with the enactment of new legislation on arbitration, the Brazilian Arbitration Act of 1996 (Law 9.307/96) ("the Act"). Since the enactment of the Act, arbitration has been the subject of study by scholars and strong efforts have been made to promote the use of arbitration in the country. This thesis focuses on the recent development of arbitration after the enactment of the Brazilian Arbitration Act, with an emphasis on the Act's regulations. The thesis recommends improvements which may be made in order to attract more foreign investors who seek the certainty that Brazil is a good venue for arbitration.