BRAZIL: Supreme Court issues a new decision on distribution and jurisdiction.
An international distribution agreement was set between a Brazilian company and a British company.
The parties agreed to submit the agreement to the "laws of the United Kingdom" and choose the foreign jurisdiction in case of conflict. In spite of the parties will, Brazilian Superior Court stated that the expression "laws of the United Kingdom" was vague, and the Brazilian material law is applicable, since the agreement was performed in the Brazilian territory.
In addition, Superior Court applied art. 88, II of the Brazilian Civil Procedure Code, which establishes the Brazilian courtīs jurisdiction to judge any agreement performed in the territory. Foreign jurisdiction was not excluded, however.
Pedro Eichin AMARAL, IDI Country Expert for Brasil.
The text of the judgement, together with other interesting case-law on agency and distribution contracts, can be found in the Brasilian page of the Reports Section of the website, while the relevant legislation concerning agency and distribution agreements in Brasil can be found in the Legislation Section of the Website.
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