For Brazilian companies, Labor justice is partial, study shows

By ETCO

Author: Gustavo Paul

Source: O Globo - RJ - ECONOMY - 22/08/2009

This is one of the conclusions of a survey obtained by GLOBO on the perception of large Brazilian companies in relation to the performance of the Judiciary. For the survey, made by the director of the Brazilian Center for Judicial Studies and Research Maria Tereza Sadek, at the request of the Etco Institute, more than half of the entrepreneurs interviewed (53%) consider that the Labor Court of first instance is partial in their judgments, while 35% also point out the problem in the second instance.

The labor court is also in a bad position when companies are consulted about how their various bodies deal with respect for contracts, the right to property and strict attention to the law. The marks given to these items are considered negative and fall short of the other courts. On a scale of 0 to 10, the scores given to the Labor Court are between 4 and 5.

- This shows that there is a strong perception that the Labor Court has a strong pro-worker bias and is opposed to companies - says Maria Tereza.

For the other courts, perception is positive. 17 large companies operating in five branches of the economy (pharmaceutical, fuel distribution, drink, tobacco and information technology) were heard. Most of this universe is of foreign capital, has more than 30 years of history and operates throughout the national territory.

The survey shows that state and federal courts and other higher courts are highly rated in terms of compliance with contracts, property rights and respect for laws. In this case, the courts have scores above 6. The Supreme Federal Court is the highest rated by companies, with an average score of 8.

- This result surprised me positively. This shows that the changes that have been occurring in the Judiciary are already being noticed by society - says the researcher.