BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Eduardo Perazza, Glaucia Coelho, Débora Chaves Martines Fernandes and Agnes Domingues, Machado Meyer
Requesting Documents from the Opposing Party Although there is no automatic disclosure duty, a party may request specific documents from the opposing party or from third parties. The requesting party must identify the document with reasonable precision and explain why it is relevant to the dispute. The court will not accept a refusal to produce a document when the party has a legal obligation to disclose it; the party referred to the document during the proceedings to support its own case; or the document is common to both parties. If a party refuses to produce a court-ordered docu- ment without valid justification, the court may pre- sume that the facts the requesting party intended to prove through that document are true. 8.2 Privilege Brazil does not have a privilege regime equivalent to common law systems, but it provides strong protec- tions for confidential communications based on statu- Under the Statute of the Brazilian Bar, all communi- cations related to legal advice and representation – including opinions, strategy and materials prepared in connection with actual or anticipated litigation – are confidential. In general, such information cannot be compelled by court order, and lawyers may refuse to testify about it. Other Professionals Similar confidentiality obligations apply to other pro- fessions, including doctors and healthcare profes- sionals, accountants, psychologists and therapists, journalists (with respect to sources) and members of the clergy. These protections may justify refusal to disclose information, although courts may exception- ally order disclosure where there is a compelling and specific need. Waiver of Privilege Privilege may be waived if the holder voluntarily dis- closes the information, consents to its disclosure, or relies on the confidential material to support claims or defences. Assertions of confidentiality must be spe- tory duties of professional secrecy. Lawyer-Client Communications
lective arbitration in Brazil, and it is theoretically per- mitted for certain types of disputes. Notable cases have emerged involving investor harm claims, where collective arbitration mechanisms were discussed as a potential avenue for resolving mass investor dis- putes. 7.5 Trends Repetitive Claims Mechanism Brazil has developed a robust system for managing mass litigation through binding precedent mecha- nisms. The most significant trend is the increased use of the Incident of Resolution of Repetitive Demands and repetitive appeal procedures in the Superior Courts. These mechanisms allow courts to consoli- date thousands of individual cases involving the same legal question into a single binding ruling. It has been widely used in banking, insurance and consumer dis- putes. Digital and Data Protection Claims Consumer collective actions against technology companies, banks and telecommunications provid- ers have increased substantially, particularly regarding data breaches, algorithmic decision-making and digi- tal platform liability. With the Brazilian data protection law in force, collective actions based on data protec- tion violations are expected to become more frequent. Brazil does not have broad discovery comparable to common law jurisdictions. There is no general obliga- tion to disclose documents that may be relevant to the dispute. General Approach Parties must submit all documentary evidence they intend to rely upon together with their initial plead- ings. The claimant attaches documents to the initial petition, and the defendant does the same with the defence. After these initial submissions, new docu- ments may only be introduced under limited circum- stances, such as when responding to arguments raised by the opposing party. 8. Evidence 8.1 Disclosure
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