Nadia de Araujo has a plural relationship with CAM-CCBC. In addition to being included in the list of arbitrators indicated by the Center for Arbitration and Mediation, her office is an associate of the Chamber, frequently attending Chapter Rio events.
Professor of International Law at PUC-Rio for more than 30 years, she was Prosecutor of the State Prosecution Office of Rio de Janeiro between 1983 and 1997 and later a Public Prosecutor between 1997 and 2012, when she opened her own office. She is currently an arbitrator, composing the list of only four names nominated by Brazil, for the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands – a city known as the world capital of law. The court is the oldest in arbitration in the world, founded in 1899.
Nadia is also acting president (2019) of the Permanent Review Court of the Mercosur. The Court meets in Asuncion, Paraguay, when member countries call upon this dispute settlement system established by the Olivos Protocol in 2004.
International Law: countries, companies and persons
When we talk about International Law, it is common to think about the laws that govern political, economic and commercial relationships between countries. International Law, however, also concern to litigation related to the private sphere, be it the private life of natural persons, or the commercial life of legal persons.
With regard to the daily life of individuals connected to more than one country, International Law comes into play when it comes to child custody, when a parent decides to move abroad and the child needs to be with one of them. “The fate of the child must be chosen by mutual agreement between the parents. A unilateral choice is forbidden”, says Nadia.
There are other situations in the personal sphere capable of falling into the domain of International Law, such as divorce, family relocation, marriage – and even complaints about the purchase of foreign products in e-commerce, for example.
In addition to people, the companies themselves can seek a solution through International Law, such as drafting contracts and disagreements on the purchase and sale of oil.
Which country legislation should be applied in international disputes?
In Brazil, the answer lies in the Introduction Act to Brazilian Law Rules (Lindb), which provides a direction for private disputes that cross the boundaries of a jurisdiction. “After this phase has been decided, the process follows its normal course”, explains Nadia de Araujo, author of the book Direito Internacional Privado: Teoria e Prática Brasileira (Private International Law: Brazilian theory and practice) (Publisher: Revista dos Tribunais). Adopted in several faculties of Law of the country, the work is in the eighth edition, that was released in 2019. The text comments on several cases of judicial decisions, with answers to the daily problems of lawyers, serving as a reference for students and professionals.
