Brazil’s courts, prosecutors, judicial decisions and the legal process behind major public cases.
On October 5, 1988, Brazil promulgated the Constitution that remains in force today. Drafted by a National Constituent Assembly after the country’s democratic regime resumed in 1985, it defined Brazil as a democratic state under the rule of law and set protections for rights, institutions, the environment and Indigenous peoples.
Brazil publicly recognized the persistence of contemporary slave labor in 1995. Since then, the Labour Ministry says specialized enforcement actions have removed 65,598 workers from conditions classified by authorities as analogous to slavery.
On May 6, 1997, a consortium bought control of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in an auction held under Brazil’s privatization program. The transaction faced court challenges but was completed the same day, and the company—now Vale—remains a globally material iron-ore producer.
On December 17, 2012, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court concluded the principal trial phase of Criminal Action 470, widely known as the Mensalão case. The judgment initially recorded convictions and acquittals across a group spanning political, party, advertising and banking figures, while later appeals changed some counts.
On December 17, 2012, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ended its plenary trial in AP 470. The initial ruling produced convictions and acquittals, while later appeals revised specific counts.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court initially convicted 25 defendants and acquitted 12 in the Mensalão case in 2012. Later appeals reversed some counts, while other convictions became final.
Operation Car Wash began in 2014 as a financial-crimes inquiry and grew into Brazil’s most consequential corruption investigation. Its legacy includes findings about Petrobras contracting and a Supreme Court sequence that voided convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva without deciding the underlying allegations.
Operation Lava Jato began on March 17, 2014, as a money-laundering inquiry and expanded into cases involving Petrobras contracts, construction companies and political figures. It produced arrests, charges, agreements, convictions and reported recoveries, but later faced consequential judicial reversals in cases involving Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil’s Lava Jato investigation began on March 17, 2014. Its legacy now includes cooperation agreements and convictions alongside case-specific annulments and terminated proceedings, with six new Petrobras-related convictions still open to appeal.
Operation Car Wash began as a money-laundering inquiry and grew into a far-reaching investigation of alleged corruption, cartel conduct and public contracting. More than a decade later, court decisions on jurisdiction and evidence continue to define its legal legacy.
Brazil’s Federal Police launched the first overt phase of Operation Lava Jato on March 17, 2014. Initially focused on suspected money laundering and illegal foreign-exchange activity, the inquiry later expanded into allegations involving Petrobras, major contractors and political figures. Its legacy remains significant, but legal outcomes varied case by case.
Operation Car Wash entered its first overt phase on March 17, 2014. Petrobras later recognized R$6.194 billion in improperly capitalized overpayments, while U.S. authorities found that the company and investors had been harmed by the scheme and that its disclosures misled markets.
Operation Lava Jato, known internationally as Car Wash, became one of Brazil’s most consequential anti-corruption investigations. Its record includes major corporate settlements and compliance commitments, but also later Supreme Court rulings that annulled specific proceedings and excluded a category of Odebrecht-derived evidence.
Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts found that the former federal mining regulator’s dam-safety oversight was deficient after the 2015 Fundão collapse, particularly in enforcing emergency-planning requirements. The administrative finding did not determine that regulatory failures caused the disaster.
A R$170 billion reparations agreement, approved by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2024, replaced the Fundação Renova-centered model for addressing damage from the 2015 Fundão dam collapse. Authorities, communities and oversight bodies are now focused on how the framework is implemented.
More than a decade after the Fundão dam failure killed 19 people, a R$170 billion agreement has reshaped responsibilities for remediation and compensation in Brazil’s Rio Doce basin.
Brazil’s 2024 agreement over the 2015 Fundão dam collapse replaces the Renova framework with public-authority-led programs. Its R$170 billion valuation combines spending already made with payments and obligations extending over years.
The 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana killed 19 people and exposed weaknesses in mining-dam oversight. The disaster helped drive changes to inspections, safety rules and reparations, while litigation and environmental management continue.
Brazil’s federal audit court estimated potential losses of more than R$303.9 million in a 2017 finding on a BNDESPar-backed JBS acquisition. But the ensuing administrative case ended in 2024 with a finding that the internationalization support was legitimate, no gross error and no condemnation.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B1 tailings dam killed 272 people under the state’s official count and triggered a R$37.689 billion repair agreement. Civil compensation and recovery programs continue, while federal criminal cases have entered the evidentiary trial phase.
Vale’s dam collapse in Brumadinho killed 272 people under Minas Gerais’s official count and released about 12 million cubic metres of tailings. A 2021 reparation agreement remains under implementation, while related criminal proceedings have yet to reach a final judgment.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B-I tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 272 officially recognized victims and triggered a multibillion-real reparation agreement, continuing legal cases and a global tailings-management standard.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B1 tailings dam killed 270 people, plus two unborn children. A collective reparation agreement did not end individual civil claims or criminal proceedings, and Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice continues to shape the rules for compensation cases.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B-I tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 272 people by Minas Gerais’ current count. Regulatory findings identified warning signs that were not reported to authorities, while criminal proceedings remain in the evidentiary phase.
The 2019 collapse of Vale’s B1 tailings dam in Brumadinho killed 270 people under the count used in criminal proceedings. As hearings run through May 2027, the case remains a test of corporate accountability, regulation and mining safety in Brazil.
Eletrobras’ privatization was consummated on June 17, 2022, ending the federal government’s role as controlling shareholder. The transaction combined a capital increase with a secondary share sale and imposed a 10% voting cap on any shareholder or group, creating a company without a defined controller.
Brazil’s securities regulator has turned its central Americanas accounting inquiry into a formal administrative sanctioning proceeding, while separate 2026 investigations examine banks and the retailer’s governance bodies. The cases remain unresolved and no final liability has been established.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro and seven associates in September 2025 over an attempted coup case. Bolsonaro’s 27-year, three-month sentence became final in November, though he has since sought annulment through a separate criminal-review action.
Brazil’s Federal Police searched premises in Rio de Janeiro on January 23, 2026, in an investigation into roughly R$970 million invested by the state pension authority Rioprevidência in Banco Master financial notes. No charges or findings of guilt have been announced.
Brazil’s Federal Police and Comptroller-General have launched Operation Legado, an investigation into suspected fraud in municipal procurement, particularly health-related contracts. Court-approved searches were carried out across five states and the Federal District.
Brazilian authorities executed 39 search-and-seizure warrants across six states in an investigation into 172 temporary-disability benefits suspected of causing about R$6.5 million in public losses.
Brazilian tax and prosecutors’ authorities launched Operation Perfume de Mulher on September 22, 2026, investigating suspected illegal importation of foreign perfumes, foreign-exchange evasion and money laundering.
Brazil Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino has ordered the Federal Police to investigate possible crimes and improper interference connected to the securities regulator’s handling of matters involving Banco Master and Master-linked funds.
England’s Court of Appeal refused BHP permission to challenge a High Court finding of liability over the 2015 Fundão dam collapse. The proceedings now move toward a phase on loss categories and evidence, with no individual compensation amounts yet determined.
A Supreme Federal Court justice has ordered a 60-day negotiation between Rio de Janeiro and Brazil’s federal government over federally guaranteed credit operations and the state’s debt restructuring under Propag, while temporarily suspending related enforcement measures.
Brazil’s Federal Police say they seized 44 firearms, cash and checks while investigating alleged false information used to obtain or retain civilian firearms registrations in Bahia. The case remains at the investigation stage.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court tried 38 defendants in AP 470, the Mensalão case, between August and December 2012. The initial outcome included 25 convictions, 12 acquittals and one case sent to a lower court; later appeals changed outcomes on specific charges without necessarily overturning other convictions.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court has upheld the denial of José Roberto Arruda’s registration for governor of the Federal District, ordering him to stop campaigning and cutting off access to electoral funding, broadcasts and debates.
Brazil’s Federal Police and environmental agency Ibama reported destroying 22 dredges and five support vessels during an operation targeting illegal gold extraction on the Madeira River in Amazonas. No arrests or criminal charges were announced.
Federal Police seized about R$1.85 million in Amapá while investigating allegations that welfare benefits and food baskets were tied to political support. Seven people are under investigation; no arrests were reported.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed a search warrant in metropolitan Goiânia two days before the 2026 general election as part of an investigation into suspected electoral corruption and possible vote-buying. Authorities announced no arrests, charges or findings of guilt.
Brazil’s Federal Police have launched Operation Lastro in Paraíba state to investigate suspected irregular campaign financing. The inquiry remains confidential, and no charges, trial or conviction have been documented.
Brazil’s Federal Police said it had opened 1,224 new inquiries into alleged electoral crimes in 2026 through October 1, alongside 94 active inquiries involving political violence against women. The figures are preliminary investigative totals, not findings of guilt.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed 19 Electoral Justice-authorized search warrants in Ceará during an investigation into suspected payments for political and electoral support. Authorities are examining financial flows exceeding R$9.8 million, while stressing that the inquiry has not established criminal liability.
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice has reinstated former Vale CEO Fábio Schvartsman as a defendant and rejected requests to halt cases against four engineers. The rulings concern procedure in ongoing criminal trials, not findings of guilt. Separately, Vale says it had disbursed R$34.8 billion under the Brumadinho reparation agreement by the end of 2025.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court said paper ballots matched the votes recorded by two Federal District electronic voting machines tested at its headquarters during the October 4 first-round election.
Brazil’s Federal Police reported preliminary election-day enforcement figures on October 4, including 194 people taken in and R$1.83 million in assets and cash seized. The cases remain under investigation and the figures do not establish guilt.
Petrobras closed at a record R$700.08 billion market capitalization on October 2 after reporting another oil-bearing interval at an exploratory well off Amapá. The result remains preliminary, with environmental licensing under appeal.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court upheld the annulment of convictions against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in April 2021 because the Curitiba court lacked jurisdiction over the cases. The decision was not an acquittal on the underlying allegations, and it came amid a broader Lava Jato record that included independently substantiated Petrobras-related bribery and procurement misconduct.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazilian federal police and Rio de Janeiro prosecutors launched Operation Magen on October 7, seeking arrests and searches in a case that has led to charges against 10 people. Authorities allege a network involving serving and former security officers sold weapons, disclosed restricted information and laundered money. No convictions have been reported.
On September 27, 2018, Petrobras reached coordinated U.S. resolutions over misleading disclosures and control failures linked to conduct by former executives. Later Brazilian findings estimated cartel-related losses, while the Supreme Federal Court annulled Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Curitiba convictions on jurisdictional grounds—not on the merits.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil has begun the process of returning an estimated R$1.325 billion in betting balances to about 26.5 million customers after a provisional measure prohibited fixed-odds betting. Refunds are scheduled through October 14, while the measure remains under congressional consideration and is being challenged at the Supreme Court.
Brazil’s antitrust tribunal has upheld the closure of an administrative investigation linked to the Soy Moratorium after a binding Supreme Court ruling required related proceedings to end. The decision did not determine whether the companies investigated engaged in anticompetitive conduct.
Brazil’s oil and gas regulator has approved a renewed 24-month restriction on biodiesel transactions between liquid-fuel distributors, citing traceability and oversight of fuel used in mandatory diesel blending.
Brazil’s Labor Ministry says a nationwide August 2026 inspection operation administratively rescued 479 people from conditions classified as analogous to slavery. The findings trigger administrative and civil procedures and do not amount to criminal convictions for inspected employers.
Brazil’s Federal Police have opened an investigation into whether judicial decisions may have favored real-estate and construction companies, with alleged benefits reaching a magistrate’s family. The case remains at the investigative stage, with no finding of wrongdoing.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court and Federal Police discussed how material related to the Banco Master investigations should be handled if it contains references to Supreme Court justices. The meeting established a procedural route, not evidence of wrongdoing by any justice or other person.
Brazil’s Federal Police, federal auditors and prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected irregularities in health-unit management contracts in the northeastern municipality of Nossa Senhora do Socorro. Authorities estimate potential public losses at R$15.6 million, an amount that has not been established by a final court ruling.
Brazil sold control of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce in May 1997, enacted a new telecommunications law two months later and sold 12 companies created from the Telebrás System breakup in July 1998. The measures transferred major mining and telecom assets and services to private control under a new regulatory framework.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Federal Police and federal comptroller launched an investigation into the alleged diversion and sale of 122 vehicles transferred from public agencies to a civil-society organization. Authorities estimate a potential R$4.4 million loss, while stressing the case remains at the investigative stage.
Mato Grosso Civil Police have launched Operation Legado, an investigation into suspected money laundering connected to possible wrongdoing in contracts from the previous administration of Nossa Senhora do Livramento. A court ordered asset freezes and other measures, while the allegations remain unproven.
Brazil’s health regulator has suspended the sale and use of all sterile hormone implants produced by MC Legacy Lab, citing three regulatory irregularities. In a separate measure, it ordered the seizure and recall of a FarmaUSA lot of tirzepatide powder; the company disputes Anvisa’s records and says the material was not sold.
Brazil’s Federal Police said an operation with environmental agency Ibama personnel rendered 15 dredges inoperative on the Madeira River in Rondônia, in an investigation into alleged illegal mineral extraction.
A Supreme Federal Court justice ordered the preventive detention of six people in a Rio de Janeiro investigation into alleged organized crime, money laundering and links to a fuel-station network. The detentions were maintained after custody hearings; the case remains under investigation.
Brazil’s Federal Police arrested six people in the latest phase of an investigation into suspected protection for an alleged money-laundering network operating through fuel stations in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro. Investigators said a financial-intelligence report identified more than R$7.6 billion in movements over six years, a figure that does not establish criminal proceeds or losses.
Launched on March 17, 2014, Operation Lava Jato developed into a wide-ranging set of criminal, audit and administrative proceedings linked to alleged wrongdoing involving Petrobras contracts. A 2021 Supreme Court ruling that annulled judicial acts in former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s specified Curitiba cases on jurisdictional grounds remains central to understanding its complex legal legacy.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has given telecom regulator Anatel 48 hours to provide further details after inspections found that free, data-cap-exempt access to digital electoral services was not uniform during the first-round voting period.
Brazil’s electoral court has ordered Meta to apply equal treatment to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro across its platforms before the October 25 presidential runoff. The injunction does not determine that Meta previously acted with political bias or intentionally favored either candidate.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court accepted charges against 40 people in 2007 in the case known as Mensalão. Its main AP 470 ruling ended in 2012, and subsequent appeals brought acquittals on particular counts while leaving other outcomes in place.
Date shown is the publication date because no separate historical event date is stored.Brazil’s Federal Police said it disabled 15 dredges and related equipment during a joint operation with Ibama on the Madeira River in Rondônia. The action remains at the investigation stage, with no arrests, charges or final findings of liability announced.
Brazil’s top electoral court unanimously ordered the Liberal Party to remove an Instagram video that used AI-generated imagery to depict President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a fictitious prison encounter and associate him with organized crime.
Brazil’s Federal Police arrested Rio de Janeiro state deputy Márcio Canella and former Civil Police chief Marcus Vinicius Amim Fernandes as part of an investigation into a suspected criminal organization. The case remains at the investigative stage, with no charges, trial or convictions identified.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has clarified when electricity distributors’ 10-year obligation to direct recovered PIS/Cofins tax amounts to consumers begins. The ruling does not require an immediate or uniform reduction in electricity bills.
Brazil’s top electoral court unanimously upheld a preliminary order requiring Meta to apply equal treatment to the presidential campaigns of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro through the October 25 runoff. The court has not concluded that Meta deliberately manipulated content distribution.
Brazil’s electoral inspector-general gave Meta and X Brasil 24 hours to provide technical explanations about AI tools, political-content distribution and moderation in an investigation into alleged preferential treatment of presidential candidates.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has provisionally suspended the effects of a lower-court ruling that restored Belo Sun’s installation licence for the Volta Grande gold-mining project in Pará. The decision does not finally determine the project’s licensing dispute.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro traded personal attacks and competing misconduct accusations in their first televised debate ahead of Brazil’s October 25 presidential runoff.
Brazil’s Federal Police will open a Supreme Court-supervised inquiry into allegations of foreign interference involving Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign. The order does not establish that foreign support reached the campaign or that any crime occurred.
Brazilian federal police and the federal comptroller have opened an investigation into suspected fraudulent access to fishing-benefit payments in Maranhão. Authorities executed 35 warrants, obtained asset-blocking orders of about R$400 million and estimate the alleged scheme could have caused R$10 billion in losses over five years if it had continued.
Raízen and companies in its economic group have agreed a federal tax settlement covering R$22.4 billion in liabilities. The company says the deal, which includes R$2.5 billion in cash from Raízen, is a condition for its planned out-of-court restructuring.
Brazil’s Public Labor Prosecutor’s Office recorded 1,937 complaints of alleged workplace electoral harassment through the October 25, 2026 runoff vote. The figure is a dated snapshot, not a count of proven violations, but it prompted civil actions, provisional court orders and voluntary compliance agreements.
Brazil’s Federal Police will investigate possible foreign resources, overseas-paid election content, platform conduct and links to interests in critical minerals under an order by Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino. The court said the allegations warrant scrutiny but do not establish wrongdoing.
Brazil’s Federal Police executed four Supreme Federal Court-authorized search warrants in Rio de Janeiro in the ninth phase of Operation Unha e Carne. The inquiry is examining suspected laundering and asset-concealment structures; no guilt has been established.
Brazilian labor prosecutors have sued Meta’s local representative over posts they say encouraged employers to monitor, expose, reject or dismiss workers for their political views or votes. A preliminary order requires the removal of 14 specified posts, but the R$50 million damages claim has not been decided.
Brazilian federal agencies have carried out separate operations against unauthorized gold mining in Rondônia and Pará, disabling dredges and land-based equipment while investigations seek to identify the financial and logistical networks involved.
Brazil’s Federal Police have arrested six people and searched 26 locations in an investigation into suspected irregularities involving contracts and payments at Mato Grosso’s state audit court. The inquiry is at a preliminary stage and no charges or findings of guilt have been identified.
Brazil’s antitrust authority, CADE, reported R$164.8 million in administrative fines, 41 decided cases and 255 reviewed concentration transactions during an election-period communications blackout. Separately, its investigative arm recommended liability findings in an alleged international sports-media-rights cartel case, subject to a tribunal decision.
Dorival Renato Pavan began acting as governor of Mato Grosso do Sul on November 1 after the governor, vice governor and president of the state Assembly were all unavailable. The six-day handover follows the state constitution’s succession order and is not linked to misconduct proceedings.
Brazil’s Federal Police and federal comptroller have searched premises in Goiás and Mato Grosso over suspected irregularities in federally funded engineering contracts in Aragarças. No charges, arrests or convictions have been announced.
Brazilian federal authorities launched Operation Ifrit on November 4, executing arrests, searches and other court-ordered measures in an investigation into an alleged transnational network that moved drugs and firearms through Brazil and allegedly laundered more than R$500 million over about two years.