On 7 April 2026, the First Panel of the STJ began hearing Special Appeal No. 2.016.190/SP, which concerns the scope of joint and several liability established under Article 4, Paragraph 2, of Law No. 12,846/2013 (the Brazilian Anti-Corruption Act). To date, the Reporting Justice, Paulo Sérgio Domingues, has voted to dismiss the companies’ appeals, maintaining them as defendants in the proceedings. The judgment was suspended following a request for further review by Justice Gurgel de Faria.
The dispute arises from a public civil action involving alleged irregularities in highway concession contracts. The Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) had recognised the standing of companies belonging to the same economic group to be included as defendants, and the current debate concerns the proper interpretation of Article 4 of the Anti-Corruption Act. The key issue is whether joint and several liability depends on corporate changes occurring after the enactment of the law, or whether Paragraph 2 has independent effect, allowing liability to extend to companies within the same economic group regardless of any corporate restructuring.
The vote delivered by the Reporting Justice suggests a broader interpretation of the legal provision. According to this view, the main section of Article 4 ensures the continuity of liability even in the event of corporate reorganisations, while Paragraph 2 has its own scope, enabling joint and several liability among companies operating within the same economic group without requiring a corporate restructuring as a precondition. The Justice also emphasised that, in the present case, the dispute is currently limited to determining the companies’ standing to participate in the proceedings, a crucial stage for ensuring the proper gathering of evidence.
MJAB Insights: Although the judgment of Special Appeal No. 2.016.190/SP has not yet been concluded, the proceedings already indicate a tendency within the STJ towards consolidating a broader interpretation of Article 4, Paragraph 2, of the Anti-Corruption Act.
Should this approach prevail, the precedent is likely to have a direct impact on the organisation of economic groups, requiring stricter governance, compliance and risk management practices. At the same time, it reinforces efforts to combat the use of corporate structures as mechanisms for shielding assets, thereby increasing the effectiveness of accountability for unlawful acts committed against the Public Administration.
In this context, the objective is to strike a balance between two considerations: on the one hand, preventing abusive corporate arrangements; on the other, assessing the practical effects of this interpretation on corporate structures and business management.