Rise and Fall of Corruption Control in Brazil: Public Institutions, Corporations, Compliance, and the “Post-Car Wash Operation”

Abstract

The paper is dealing with the main corruption problems and institutions in charge of prevented it in Brazil. First of all, normative legislation will be presented - the main criminal laws and criminal procedure laws. In the second part of the paper, the authors analyze the Car wash Operation which disclose several articulations between companies and political agents in different levels of administration and legislative houses. Later, it is explained how the concept of corruption has evolved, with further details regarding different corporations and their respective directors. Finally, the focus is on the post-Car wash Operation period. In this part, authors explain different targets that were achieved when new political figures emerged and even sentences were reviewed as exaggerated and abusive. Accordingly, it became clear that Brazilian corruption criminal policy rose from a legislative change that allowed the criminal justice system to go further. Unfortunately, strategic limitation for structural changes and control development accompanied with judges and prosecutors’ moral beliefs prevented further success in preventing corruption in Brazil.