The Third Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (“STJ”) ruled that the initiation of arbitration proceedings is sufficient to interrupt the statute of limitations, even in cases that occurred prior to the express introduction of this rule by Law No. 13,129/2015, which amended the Brazilian Arbitration Act.
The controversy arose in a declaratory action seeking the annulment of an arbitral award, in which the question was whether the commencement of a prior arbitration proceeding, in 2007, had interrupted the statute of limitations of the underlying claim, given that at the time there was no express legal provision establishing that arbitration would have such an effect. The STJ, however, held that the interruptive effect was already consistent with the Brazilian legal system even before the reform that expressly codified it in Article 19, §2, of the Arbitration Act.
According to the Reporting Justice, Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, arbitration is a legitimate form of dispute resolution and, as such, should produce the same effects as state jurisdiction, including with respect to the interruption of limitation periods. Thus, “the unequivocal initiative of a party in seeking the protection of its rights through one of the available means, even without state intervention, is sufficient to overcome the state of inertia.”
Accordingly, the STJ confirmed the applicability of Article 202 of the Civil Code to the case, concluding that the statute of limitations was interrupted by the commencement of the first arbitration proceeding, and that the limitation period would only resume running from the last act of the proceeding that caused the interruption.
(Superior Court of Justice, Special Appeal No. 1.981.715/GO, Third Panel, Reporting Justice Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, judgment rendered on 09/17/2024)