Party Autonomy in the choice of law: some insights from Brazil

Abstract

For nearly seventy years, the Brazilian private international law system has remained unchanged, while many other countries around the world have enacted new legislation in this field. Despite the significant involvement of Brazilian companies in the global market, the Brazilian legal system has shown resistance to accepting party autonomy in the choice of law. In light of this situation, the aim of this paper is to examine the existing divergence of opinions regarding the principle of party autonomy in Brazilian private international law. The focus will be on understanding the different perspectives regarding the scope of party autonomy in the absence of explicit legislative provisions. The specific objective is to assess whether the current Brazilian legislation, doctrine, and jurisprudence pertaining to international contracts offer adequate solutions to the challenges faced in international trade transactions, such as the possibility of using an arbitration clause as an escape valve for the inflexibility of the system.