Essay About Federal Republic And Civil Law Tradition

Pestl Anaysis Brazil
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2. Business environment
The Brazilian business environment is as rich and varied as the country
itself. With a population of about 190 Million, a territory that can fit the
whole USA (minus Alaska) and with Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian
and African influences, to name a few, you cannot expect anything less.
In order to then break down this varied environment into bite]size chunks,
we will make use of Michael Porterfs PEST model (namely Political/Legal,
Economic, Social/Culture and Technological) to give you a broad overview
of what you will come across in your dealings with Brazil.
Political and Legal
Brazil has been operating as a Federal Republic since 1985 and consists of
26 states and a federal district. These states are divided into five regions,
namely:
. North (Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Para, Rondonia, Roraima,
Tocantins)
. North East (Alagoas, Bahia, Ceara, Maranhao, Paraiba,
Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe)
. Central West (Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Federal
District)
. South East (Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo)
. South (Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina).
Legislative Bodies
. Federal: Chamber of Deputies (513 seats), Senate (81 seats)
. States: Unicameral legislatures in each state and in the Federal
District
. The presidential elections run every four years and the president
can be elected for a maximum of two four]year terms.
Legal System
The Brazilian legal system is based on Civil Law tradition and the Federal
Constitution, in force since October 5th, 1988, is the supreme rule of the
country. The Constitution organizes the country as a Federal Republic,
formed by the indissoluble union of the states and municipalities and of
the Federal District. The 26 federate states have powers to adopt their own
Constitutions and laws; their autonomy, however, is limited by the
principles established in the Federal Constitution.
c Copyright 2010 UHY International Ltd ]4]
Federal laws take precedence and are hierarchically superior to any state
or municipal law. The federal government has the exclusive authority to
legislate on civil, commercial, penal, procedural, labour, electoral, agrarian,
maritime, aeronautical and space matters. Federal law also has the
exclusive authority to rule on matters such as expropriation, energy,
telecommunications, insurance, foreign trade, nationality and citizenship,
among others.
The federal government, the states and the Federal District (Brasilia) have
concurrent authority to legislate on certain matters, like tax, financial,
education, environment and the consumer. In these cases, the federal
government provides the general guidelines, outlining main issues and
rules, while the states and the Federal District is in charge of
supplementary legislation according to their own specific needs, but
always with due regard for the generic federal law prescriptions. The
municipalityfs legislative authority is restricted to matters of local interest
and municipal taxes.
Besides the Federal Constitution, the main legal documents in Brazil are
the Codes. The most important are the Civil Code, the Tax Code, the Penal
Code and the Civil Procedure Code. The Civil Code comprises over 2000
articles regulating matters such as Obligations and Contracts, Businesses
and Corporations, Real Estate and related property rights, and many
others. The Tax Code defines the main Brazilian tax regulations, which are
complemented by many Federal, State and Municipal laws. The Penal
Code brings the definitions of conducts considered crimes and
the punishments for anyone fitting the respective legal descriptions.
Finally, the Civil Procedure Code regulates the due process of law.
Economy
Characterized by large and well]developed agricultural, mining,
manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil.s economy outweighs that of all
other South American countries and Brazil is expanding its presence in
world markets, where it is currently the 10th biggest economy in the
world.
It has weathered many storms, such as the military dictatorship 1964.1985,
hyperinflation in the 1990s and it most recently came out of a very short
lived recession (just two quarters).
The recession has left its mark though and it is expected that Brazilfs
economy will only fully recover in 2011. That said, there are still large
investments