ARBITRATION

TJ-SP hands down ruling in favor of arbitration

In a pioneering ruling that is in line with the evolution of the institute in national courts, the TJ-SP has accepted creditors’ claims arising from an arbitrator’s ruling in bankruptcy proceedings. In accordance with the ruling of the Special Court for Bankruptcies and Judicial Recuperations of the TJ-SP, the contract agreed between the companies and the beginning of arbitration proceedings occurred before the company was declared bankrupt, for which reason there are no grounds to question the validity and efficacy of the arbitrator’s ruling. (Interlocutory Appeal nº 531.020.4/3-00 - SP).

 

PROCEDURAL LAW

Lawyers may take copies of legal proceedings without seeking power of attorney

The National Council of Justice (CNJ) has ensured that lawyers may have unrestricted access to legal proceedings and may take copies of court records without the need to seek power of attorney. The decision is based on the principle of the right to counsel, this being a corollary that should guide the actions of lawyers. (Administrative Control Procedure nº 200710000015168).

Regulation of the law regarding repeated special appeals

Resolution nº 7 of the STJ will rule on Law n. 11,672, which alters the procedures for ruling on repeated special appeals. The law comes into effect on 8.8.2008 and aims to establish guidelines for the ruling justice. The new legal norm states that, on the occasion of a proliferation of special appeals grounded on an identical question of law, the chair of the court of origin (regional federal courts and courts of justice) may admit one or more appeals representative of the controversy and refer them to the STJ. Rulings on the other appeals are suspended until the justices have made a definitive pronouncement. The resolution defines what are considered to be repetitive cases and also establishes tight deadlines so that rulings on appeals that have been suspended shall be handed  down within 60 days.

 

 

LABOUR LAW

Criterion for calculating supplementary pay for insalubrious work

The TST, in compliance with Binding Judicial Precedent nº 4, of the STF, which forbids the use of the minimum wage as as an index for calculation of bonuses for public sector workers or employee, thereby rendering Article nº 192 of the CLT unconstitutional, has produced a new version of Abridgment 228 to establish the basis for calculation of supplementary pay for insalubrious work to the basic salary. However, on 15.7.2008, in a ruling on Constitutional Claim nº 6266, the president of the STF, Justice Gilmar Mendes, suspended the applicability of Abridgement 228, ruling that “the new version of Abridgment 228/TST reveals undue application of Binding Judicial Precedent nº 4, in so far as it allows for the substitution of the minimum wage by the basic salary in the calculation of supplementary pay for insalubrious work with no basis in law”. Thus, on 22.7.2008, the president of the TST, Justice Rider Nogueira de Brito, provided clarification regarding Abridgement 228, bearing in mind the position taken at the session of the Full Court on 26 June, as a way of supporting the ruling on the matter by the STF, to the effect that Abridgement 228 of the TST is currently suspended awaiting a ruling on the merits of the question from the STF.

Appeals Deposits in Labor Disputes

The president of the TST, through ATO.SEJUD.GP nº 493/2008, has set new restrictions on the sums that may held in appeal deposits, which will come into effect as of 1º.8.2008. According to the new measure, the limit for lodging an appeal is now R$ 5,357.25, while the limit for an extraordinary review, an appeal to the supreme court or a rescissory appeal now stands at R$ 10,714.51.

 

TAX LAW

More than 40 business benefit from SUDENE tax incentives

On 17.7.2008 at the Federation of Industry of the State of Bahia, papers issued by SUDENE were formally handed over to more than 40 businesses operating in the Northeast region, containing approval for projects presented as grounds for tax incentives of a 75% fixed reduction in Income Tax and exemption from the AFRMM tax.

ICMS Accords

8.7.2008 and 31.7.2008 saw the publication of ICMS Accord 60/08 - 101/08, including ICMS Accord 73/08, which authorizes the Federal District to disregard fines and interest arising from taxable income received before 31.12.2006 and ICMS Accord 71/08, which suspends clauses in accords that grant tax benefits.

Suspension of SGP

The United States Congress approved on 29.7.2008 the suspension for a further year of the General Preferences System – SGR, which provides exemption from duties on more than 4,500 products from over 130 developing countries, including Brazil, and which was due to come into effect in December of this year.

3rd Brazilian Congress of Law Firms

Our labor law consultant, Antonio J. Peres Picolomini, is set to participate as a lecturer at the 3rd Brazilian Congress of Law Firms to be held in the city of Campinas/SP on 11 and 12 September 2008. The event is run by the SINSA – Association of Law Firms of the States of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Trigueiro Fontes at the Amcham Event in Rio Grande do Sul
Milene Saraiva Sachs (MSS), a staff-member at our regional office in Porto Alegre, participated in the Legislation Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce, where the topic under discussion was "Protection of Minority Shareholders ". The event was presided over by Sérgio Muller, a retired associate justice of the TJRS, who is a Master of Law and professor of Corporate Law at the PUC/RS, along with Lúcio Lopes, who holds a Masters degree in International Financial Law from the University of Boston and the Fundraising and Investment Banking Program of the University of Harvard.

New Lawyers at Trigueiro Fontes

Trigueiro Fontes has hired new lawyers for several of its Regional Units. These are Maria Silvania Gouveia Novelino Catão (NIA) in Recife/PE; Haline Fernandes Silva da Hora (ALI) and Bruno Gomes Cunha (BRG), both in Fortaleza/CE; Silvana Rivero (SIV) in Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Sergio Luiz Lanzzanova Martins (SER) in Brasília/DF and Andreia Vieira de Carvalho (DRE), Paula Padilha Cabral (PAD), Diego Beu Ruiz (DIE) and Renata Paschoalini (REN), at the São Paulo/SP Unit. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all these newcomers!