A globalização dos serviços jurídicos, o GATS e os provimentos nº 91/2000 e nº 129/2008 do Conselho Federal da Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil

Abstract

This paper deals with the liberalization of legal services through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). With market estimates of billions of dollars, the liberalization of legal services has been comprehensively criticized, though the existence of flexibilities along the Agreement. In practice, after almost two decades of GATS,very little has been achieved in terms of liberalization. The majority of Members has been conservative about the level of subscribed commitments under the GATS, including Brazil. To tackle those points, this paper introduces the relevant norms of the GATS. Then, it presents the liberalization scenario at the WTO. Finally, the Brazilian case is analyzed considering the connection between the international and domestic debate. Specifically, it discusses the relationship between Regulations n.º 91/2000 and n.º 129/2008 of the Federal Counsel of the Brazilian Bar Association (CFOAB) and the GATS rules.