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RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGEMENTS IN BRAZIL

The recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Brazil commences with the interested party presenting a recognition request (in the form of a petition/application in writing) to the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice, and providing the necessary documents to demonstrate the fulfilment of the formal and substantive requirements for ratification. Recognition requests filed before the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice must be accompanied by the following documents:(i) the original or a certified copy of the judgment to be recognised;(ii) for the recognition of arbitral awards, also the original or a certified copy of the arbitral agreement; and(iii) any other documents necessary to demonstrate the fulfilment of the formal and substantive requirements for recognition. As a rule, documents presented in recognition proceedings must (a) be accompanied by a sworn translation of their content into Portuguese, and (b) have been previously authenticated by the competent Brazilian consular authority. After the filing of the recognition request, the President of the Court may demand that the interested party presents additional documents and/or amend its initial application. Should the Court interpret that the documents presented by the plaintiff are sufficient and the request is formally adequate, it will determine that service of process be effected on the defendant, who will then have the opportunity to present its response. If the defendant assents to the recognition request, the President of the Court himself or herself decides the case. Should the defendant oppose the request, the case is remitted to the Superior Court of Justice’s Special Court (composed of the most senior Justices of the Court). During the course of the proceedings, the Court may determine the plaintiff and defendant to provide, respectively, a reply and a rebuttal, as well as any additional documents it may deem necessary. In addition, the Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office will be summoned to present an opinion on the case. After these developments, the Superior Court of Justice’s Special Court proceeds to render its final decision on the case.

The length of the proceedings may vary considerably, depending on whether the opposite party agrees with the recognition request or opposes it, thus increasing the procedure’s complexity. A time estimate for the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice to recognise a foreign judgment or a foreign arbitral award may vary, on average, between six months (when the defendant does not oppose the recognition request) to three-and-a-half years. On average, recognition proceedings before the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice tend to last around 30 (thirty) months. In the instance whereby a final decision is against recognising a foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award rendered by the Superior Court of Justice, the parties involved may present, in very specific circumstances, an extraordinary appeal, directing the case to the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil.

Once the recognition is granted by the Superior Court of Justice, the foreign judgment becomes res judicata in Brazil, and the interested party may present a request for enforcement before the competent Brazilian Federal Courts. It is possible for the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice to recognise only a part of the judgment in matter. This may occur either because the Court understands that only a part of the judgment is recognisable, or because the parties, for any given reason, requested the recognition of only part of the decision.

http://www.pinheironeto.com.br/Documents/Artigos/TheICLG_EnforcementofForeignJudgments_2018.pdf

Link to Docket: https://www.docketbird.com/court-cases/case/flsd-9:2018-cv-80106