Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 19
Brazil
Given that the Covid-19 pandemic (and its effects on contractual relations) is an
extraordinary and recent event, it is important to assess its impacts on each contract, as
well as other circumstances of any particular case and of the contract, in order to
determine whether or not Covid-19 can lead to the rebalance of a contract.
In this sense, to further regulate the matter, Federal Law No. 14,010/2020 (“Emergency
and Transitional Regime for Legal Relations of Private Law”) was enacted, aiming at
providing a higher degree of legal certainty to the private relations and upholding certain
general principles of private law. Among other provisions, the Emergency and Transitional
Regime for Legal Relations of Private Law established that: (i) certain statutory terms were
prevented or suspended, as the case may be, until last October 30, 2020; (ii) legal
consequences arising from the Covid-19 pandemic in the execution of contracts should
not retroact to circumstances previous to the pandemic; and (iii) the increase in inflation,
the variation of the exchange rate, the devaluation or replacement of the monetary
standard, solely for the purposes of Articles 317, 478, 479 and 480 of the Brazilian Civil
Code, shall not be deemed as unpredictable events. The Emergency and Transitional
Regime for Legal Relations of Private Law considers, for its purposes, March 20, 2020 as
the initial term for the events derived from the Covid-19 pandemic. Please note that that
the Emergency and Transitional Regime for Legal Relations of Private Law did not enforce
new legal provisions but, instead, it clarified how general principles of law (which were
enforceable even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic) would still apply vis-à-vis such
extraordinary circumstances, thus assuring greater legal certitude private parties.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, several bills of law were presented before the National
Congress in an effort to counterbalance adverse effects of the pandemic to lease
Have any changes agreements. Some of them aimed to rule suspension of rent enforcement as well as
reduction of rental values. None has been effectively approved, except for the measure that
been made to
the laws around prohibits the eviction of lessees in causes filed from March 20th, 2020, amending items of
property, rent and the Article 59, § 1º of the Law No. 8,245 of 1991 (the Lease Law), until October 30th, 2020.
enforcement?
There is no official understanding from the Brazilian courts about the adverse effects of the
pandemic to lease agreements. Courts are ruling the matters taking into consideration the
particularities of each specific contractual relationship.
Property
There is an effort of the Courts to protect both the lessor and the lessee, assuming that both
parties have suffered the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to prevent
opportunistic behaviors from the parties.
Upon the analysis of approximately 160 decisions of the Courts of São Paulo and Rio de
Janeiro, it is possible to verify that, in cases which Courts decided to reduce the rental
values, the discount varied from 30 up to 70 percent for a certain period of time (usually for
the period of the lockdown). Most common decisions granted 50 percent discount in the
rental values
Government measures in key jurisdictions
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