Introduction

The Brazilian Arbitration Act ("Arbitration Act"), enacted a little over eight years ago, provided legal certainty for the development of arbitration as a viable means of dispute resolution in Brazil. Among other innovations, the Arbitration Act made contractual arbitration clauses binding, enabling their specific performance. It also gave domestic arbitration awards the same effects of a court judgment, by removing the need to have them ratified by a judge before being enforced. Such legislative change represented a significant improvement, especially because ...