Key Takeaways From Brazil's New Arbitration Law

Brazil has enacted revisions to its 1996 Arbitration Act, including changes dealing with state entities, shareholder disputes and interim relief.

Law No. 13,129 was enacted on 26 May after being approved by the Brazilian Congress and the Office of the President, and will take effect 60 days later. The final text of the law is available here.

It marks the first change to the country’s arbitration regime in 19 years. The bill was drafted by a 22-strong special committee of judges and practitioners established by the Brazilian Senate in 2012 to update the country’s arbitration and mediation laws.

The changes preserve the essence of the country’s 19-year-old arbitration framework, while fine tuning some of the key points according to Sergio André Laclau Marques, of Veirano Advogados. “In some cases the changes consolidated and detailed already accepted practices, by bringing them into the law”.