Compliance’s critic in brazilian anti-corruption law

Abstract

Law n. 12,846 of 2013, also known as the Brazilian Anti-corruption Law, was created with the aim of combating corruption as well as holding legal entities responsible for their actions. For the optimistic few, it created salutary institutes. However, for those who are a bit more skeptical, it is easy to see that it doesn’t innovate in its institutes, as it copies perfectly already known provisions existing in the Brazilian Legal System, such as the law of administrative impropriety and the law governing public contracts. It happens that, with the enactment of this law, Brazil conformed to the international standard, creating legal provisions to regulate and punish maculate acts originating not only from civil servants but also from legal entities – thusly, aligning itself with modern compliance ideas.  Yet this paper questions, if the compliance prescribed in the anti-corruption law is beneficial, or if it is an empty repeated promise? From this question, this study offers a much needed criticism of the institute of compliance, utilizing a moray of interpretations and comparisons with foreign and international law as a means for reaching this manuscript’s objective, ie, to find out if compliance is an effective instrument for combating corruption as proposed in the anti-corruption law or if it can become an artifice for those who want to use it in order to avoid penalties. For this reason, this paper uses the deductive method.