Legal enforcement of the World Health Organization norms in Brazil: in dubio pro salute principle

Abstract

Acumuladores Ajax Ltd., one of the largest automotive battery manufacturing company in Brazil, violated environmental, health and labour safety laws the past decades, causing air and soil contamination in residential areas that is in the vicinity of the factory located in Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. The Ajax judicial case will be investigated in at least three legal instances – civil, labor, and tax – in addition to the administrative level. The Ajax legal case reached the Brazilian Court of Appeals in the form of an appeal related to the tax enforcement of a fine applied to the company. The resulting court ruling evokes a topic rarely discussed in the Brazilian legal community: the scope of the World Health Organization (WHO) rulings in Brazil. In 2002, an epidemiological survey indicated that 314 children living in the vicinity of the factory presented plumbemia levels (existence of lead in blood) higher than those considered “acceptable” by the WHO. The company argued that the WHO standards are not enforced by the Brazilian law. The rapporteur of the case, Minister Herman Benjamin, stated that in the absence or manifest outdating of Brazilian standards, the contamination and the resulting damages are characterized by the disrespect for international institutions standards of which Brazil is a member or participant, applying the in dubio pro salute principle. According to the rapporteur, it is the duty of the judge to enforce the norm that best ensures public health using either mild rules or those enforced with national or international sanctions.