“Brazil court rules in favor of anti-slavery 'dirty list'”, 14th September 2020

Brazil's so-called dirty list, one of the nation's most powerful weapons against slave labor, is legal and can proceed, the Supreme Court ruled…With the ruling, the list of companies and individuals found by labor inspectors to have engaged in slave labor overcame a legal challenge by a Brazilian association of real estate developers.

Companies on the list are barred from receiving state loans, and it is used by private banks to gauge credit risk and by international buyers concerned about their supply chains.

The lawsuit filed by Abrainc, the real estate association, argued that the list could only be created by law and not by a unilateral decision by Brazil's government. In the ruling, a majority of the 11 ministers on the court decided that creation of the list, under publication rules issued in 2016, was constitutional.

"The existence of modern forms of slavery is diametrically opposed to any goals of a society that intends to be democratic," wrote minister Edson Fachin, who voted in favor of the list.

…The list is published at least once every six months.