Por Paulo Guilherme de Mendonça Lopes e Alexandre Paranhos
Introduction
Law No. 14.879 enacted on June 4th 2024 amended part of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure (Law No. 13.105/2015) to establish that the choice of forum must be pertinent to the domicile of the parties or the place of the legal duty and that filing a lawsuit in a random court constitutes an abusive practice, subject to ex officio declination of jurisdiction.
The aforementioned Law amended article 63 of the Code of Civil Procedure, by amending paragraph 1st and adding paragraph 5th as presented below:
§ 1st. The choice of forum shall only be effective when it is contained in a written instrument, expressly alluding to a specific legal transaction and is relevant to the domicile or residence of one of the parties or to the place of the legal duty, except for consumer agreements, when it is favorable to the consumer.
§ 5th. The filing of a lawsuit in a random court, understood as one that has no connection with the domicile or residence of the parties or with the legal transaction discussed in the lawsuit, constitutes an abusive practice that justifies the ex officio declination of jurisdiction.
Before this amendment, article 63 of the Brazilian Civil Procedure Code determined that the choice of forum only takes effect when it is contained in a written instrument and expressly refers to a specific legal transaction.
In summary, the alteration of court is still allowed, however, it must be pertinent to the parties’ domicile, or the place of the legal duty and the random filing of a lawsuit can result in an ex officio declination of jurisdiction.
Conclusion
This amendment represents an important milestone for the judiciary system to guarantee legal certainty and avoid unnecessary distant trial venues or filing of claims in a non-competent jurisdiction.
