International Lis Pendens in the
Fundão Dam Collapse Case: Mechanisms for the Management and Proper Conduct
of Parallel Transnat
Name: GISELLY GOMES MOREIRA
Publication date: 27/05/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| CLAUDIO IANNOTTI DA ROCHA | Examinador Interno |
| RENATA ALVARES GASPAR | Examinador Externo |
| THIAGO GONÇALVES PALUMA ROCHA | Examinador Externo |
| VALESCA RAIZER BORGES MOSCHEN | Presidente |
Summary: This dissertation analyzes the concept of international lis pendens and its effects on crossborder disputes. The simultaneous processing of claims is still a neglected and underexplored
topic from the perspective of proper coordination and management, even though the
multiplicity of identical proceedings in different jurisdictions can result in the risk of
contradictory decisions, the expenditure of resources, and the compromise of the proper
administration of justice. The context is aggravated by the lack of uniformity on the subject in
international instruments and by the legal pluralism inherent in Civil Law and Common Law
systems. Thus, the deleterious effects of international lis pendens represent a legal bottleneck
and, therefore, must be understood as a problem of contemporary civil procedure. In this regard,
it should be noted that Brazilian law, despite being based on the guarantee of legal certainty,
does not recognize the effects of international lis pendens, allowing the transfer of identical
actions filed in foreign jurisdictions. Within this panorama, this work seeks to answer the
following question: what are the normative and doctrinal criteria for the management of
identical parallel transnational actions in the absence of uniform regulations on international
lis pendens? The hypotheses to be developed are: (1) there is no systematization of international
lis pendens, both globally and at the Brazilian level, especially due to article 24 of the CPC and
(2) article 24 of the Brazilian CPC conflicts with the principle of legal certainty by allowing
parallel actions, not preventing conflicting decisions. For this reason, there is a rupture in the
fundamental principles of procedural science, especially with regard to legal cooperation, the
proper administration of justice, and legal certainty. Thus, the general objective of this research
is to investigate, from the perspective of a concrete case, the controversial points of
international lis pendens, in order to rethink the management of these actions, ascertaining their
limits. The approach method used is deductive and the procedural method is analyticalcomparative. In turn, the research technique adopted is bibliographic and jurisprudential
analysis. In this sense, the research carries out an empirical study based on the analysis of a
concrete case (the Rio Doce case) that is being processed in parallel in two distinct jurisdictions
(Brazil and the United Kingdom). The proposals are discussed in five chapters: the first three
chapters aim to analyze central concepts, study comparative law, and investigate lis pendens in
Brazilian civil procedure, allowing for a more detailed understanding of the procedural
institute. In subsequent chapters, an analysis of the case study is carried out, along with the
formulation of proposals for the adequate handling of the issue. The research concludes that,
although it is a topic notably related to legal cooperation, international lis pendens still lacks
coherent treatment given the complexity of transnational disputes, weakening fundamental
principles of civil procedure. Based on these considerations, from a legal standpoint, the aim
is to propose concrete solutions for the adequate handling of similar cases both nationally and
globally, under the principle of legal cooperation. From a social perspective, the research seeks
to highlight the problems of the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history, considering
the adequate protection of rights, which in this case transcends national borders. This subject
is closely linked to the PPGDIR's area of concentration – Justice, Process and Constitution and
Research Line: Process, Techniques and Protection of Existential and Patrimonial Rights, with
the research resulting from participation in the Research Group Labyrinth of the Codification
of International Civil Procedure (LABCODEX/UFES)
