里约热内卢州规制国有企业仲裁有关问题

里约热内卢州颁布了46,245/2018号法令，该法令规制涉及国有企业的仲裁，特别是特许建设协议（concessionand construction agreements）。对于其他合同，只有争议标的至少R$ 2000万元（约6000万美元）的情况下，才可签订仲裁条款。

根据该法令，里约热内卢州只能签订机构仲裁的仲裁条款。仲裁机构应（i）具有至少5年的经验，（ii）在前一年至少受理了15个仲裁案件；以及（iii）在里约热内卢持有提交申请和文件的场所。符合这些要求的仲裁机构应向里约热内卢州请求认证（accreditation），该州将公布已认证的仲裁机构的名单，私营机构协商仲裁条款时可以从名单中选择仲裁机构。

规定了程序性最短期限，如60天的申请、答辩、反请求、反请求答辩和最终陈述（finalallegations）。应提前90天通知开庭时间，是为了使里约热内卢州拥有较长的准备时间。

如果申请人为私营机构，其应当预缴仲裁费、仲裁机构费用和专家费用（如有）。但是，最终裁决应裁令败诉一方承担或偿还胜诉方合理费用，包括仲裁员费用、机构费用和专家证人费用。合同约定的律师费不可补偿，但败诉一方应根据《巴西民事诉讼法典》第85条规定的标准并按照胜诉的金额向胜诉方的代理律师支付强制性的胜诉费(“sucumbência”)。

仲裁将是公开的，但根据巴西法律保密性的资料不能被披露。仲裁员将决定关于某一资料保密性的争议。如果第三方希望得到仲裁的信息，包括递交文件、仲裁决定和报告的副本，则其必须向里约热内卢州检察官办公室请求(ProcuradoriaGeral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro)。庭审过程不公开。

尽管该法令显然有利于里约热内卢州，因为可以从这些诸如预付费、提交材料期限等规定中推定出该结论，但一般来说，因为它确立了仲裁程序的明确规定，巴西仲裁界广泛接受了这样的做法。

State of Rio de Janeiro regulates arbitrations with state entities

Author:Joaquimde Paiva Muniz

The State ofRio de Janeiro has issued Decree no.. 46,245/2018, regulating arbitrations involving state entities, especially for concession and construction agreements. For other contracts, the arbitration clause may only be included if it involves at least R$ 20 Million (approximately USD $6M).

According to such decree, the State of Rio de Janeiro can only enter into arbitration clauses providing for institutional arbitration. The arbitral institution shall  (i) have at least 5 years of experience, (ii) have held at least 15 arbitrations in the previous year; and (iii) hold premises in Rio de Janeiro for submission of petitions and documents. The arbitral institutions that meet those requirements shall request accreditation with the State of Rio deJaneiro, which will publish a list of accredited arbitration institutions, from which the private party may choose in the negotiation of the relevant contract with an arbitration clause.

There are minimum terms for certain procedural acts, such as 60 days for statements of claims, statements of defense, statements of counterclaim, defenses to statement of counterclaim and final allegations. The hearing shall be scheduled with a 90-day prior notice. The purpose is for the State of Rio de Janeiro to have a long time for preparation.

If the private party is the claimant, it shall advance the fees of the arbitration,the arbitral institution and the court expert, if any. Nonetheless, the final award shall order the losing party to bear or reimburse reasonable expenses of the wining party, including arbitrators’ fees, institutional fees and fees with experts witnesses. Contractual lawyer fees are not recoverable, but the losing party shall pay to the counsel of the wining mandatory success fees(“sucumbência”), depending on the amount of the success, according to the criteria set forth in art. 85 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.

The arbitration will be public, but information that is confidential under Brazilian Law cannot be disclosed. The arbitrators will decide on controversies as to the confidentiality of a given information. If a third party wishes information on the arbitration, including copy of the submissions, decisions and reports, it will have to be requested to Rio de Janeiro’s State Attorney Office (Procuradoria Geral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro). Hearings will be held privately.

Although such decree is clearly beneficial to the State of Rio de Janeiro, as one may infer from provisions such as the advance in fees and the long terms for submissions,in general it was very well received by the Brazilian arbitration community,since it establishes clear rules for arbitral proceedings.