Responsible family business – the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) may file an action against environmental damage on private land and not only on Federal Union property.
This information helps to reinforce the need for a responsible family business to comply with rules and laws. Paying attention to this matter is a way to avoid headaches and, of course, to act in an environmentally friendly manner – something that, without any doubt, is good for everyone: owners, employees, partners, clients and consumers. The recommendation also applies to condominiums.
Decision – The case under judgment at the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) involved an action filed by Ibama for deforestation and environmental degradation, in a permanent preservation area, against the Bosque Águas da Aldeia condominium, in the Pernambuco municipality of Paudalho, 37 kilometers from Recife.
The condominium obtained favorable court decisions on the grounds that Ibama was an illegitimate party, since the damage, if it existed, occurred on private property and did not affect Federal Union assets. However, the rapporteur of the appeal by the AGU (Office of the Attorney General of the Federal Union) at the STJ, Justice Benedito Gonçalves, accepted the arguments of the federal prosecutors and reversed the decision of the Federal Regional Court of the 5th Region (TRF5), based on Article 5 of Law 7,347/95.
In the Justice’s view, the fact that the damage was not caused to the assets of the Federal Union, its agencies, public companies, foundations or mixed-capital companies, but rather to private property, “does not remove the standing” of Ibama.
The magistrate emphasized that Ibama “is assigned, by law, the duty to carry out the oversight of activities and actions harmful to the environment”.
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