PRACTICE NOTES
Interim Relief in Arbitration under Brazilian Law: Court and Tribunal Powers, Legal Tests, Ex Parte Orders, Security, Enforcement and Damages
Interim measures in Brazil
Interim relief in Brazil falls under the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure (Federal Law No 13.105/2015 (BCCP)), which outlines several categories of provisional measures, each aligned to particular forms of relief and designed to preserve the effectiveness of the ultimate decision, whether judicial or arbitral. The Brazilian Arbitration Act (BAA), which governs arbitration (Federal Law No 9307/96), further provides that, before the arbitral tribunal is formed, the parties may apply to the courts for interim measures. Once the tribunal is constituted, the BAA confers on it the exclusive competence to issue interim measures and to maintain, vary, or revoke measures previously ordered by the courts. The substantive criteria for these remedies are, in essence, the same in arbitral and judicial forums; therefore, the BCCP’s general framework can guide the appraisal of interim relief even when ordered by arbitrators. The key divergence concerns arbitrators’ power—or, more precisely, their lack of coercive authority—to enforce such orders. Conversely, where an interim measure is sought before the courts, the evaluation of the interim measure...
Arbitration