Post by account_disabled on Mar 14, 2024 10:20:35 GMT
The Superior Court of Justice has been banging the hammer on controversial issues for Brazilian agribusiness and directly impacting the direction of the sector
Highlighting the importance of Brazilian agribusiness is nothing new. A global reference for a few decades and representing an important share of the country's B2B Lead GDP, it is responsible for a large generation of jobs and taxes, maintains the surplus Brazilian trade balance and has been, in good economic periods, a strong driver of the economy and, in times of crisis , as in recent years, the only sector to maintain positive growth rates. It is no exaggeration to say that Brazilian agribusiness is largely responsible for the end of the country's economic recession in 2017.
However, despite all this protagonism in the economic field, little is said about the way in which several fundamental issues for the sector are constantly being decided by the Judiciary, often directly impacting the direction of agribusiness in Brazil.
In this context, despite being little known by Brazilians and often frightening to ordinary citizens, the structure of the national Judiciary is relatively simple. In addition to specialized justice (labor, military and electoral), there are state courts, federal courts and higher courts, each with its competence defined by the Federal Constitution, the most important rule in the country.
At the top of the pyramid are the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice, higher courts that function mainly as review bodies for decisions handed down by other courts. Make no mistake, this means a lot of work.
According to the latest Annual Report of the National Council of Justice, published in 2016, Brazil has more than 17 thousand active judges. This is a significant number of judges, who have the difficult role of interpreting national legislation and, on a daily basis, making decisions on the most diverse legal issues.
It turns out that, as in the Judiciary the maxim “each head, a sentence” also applies, it is not uncommon for judges throughout Brazil to interpret the same law differently and to make conflicting decisions regarding the same topic.
The higher courts enter the scene. While the STF functions as the court responsible for defending constitutional norms, the main function of the STJ is to ensure the correct application of other national laws, standardizing their application by the country's judges and courts.
As one can imagine, the STJ’s task is fundamental to what, in jargon, is called “legal security”. The expression refers to the correct and – above all – uniform application of laws by the courts, seeking predictability in judgments. This is a determining element for social relations, especially business, to be regulated in an environment in which the expectations of people, companies and investors in relation to the laws are fulfilled.