On 5 November 2015, the collapse of the Fundão Dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, under the
control of the mining company Samarco led to one of the biggest environmental disasters in
Brazilian recent history. The immediate and continuous flow of tailings caused mass destruction
throughout the entire Doce River basin until it reached the ocean in Linhares, ES. Today, the
disaster continues to produce effects on the affected communities. The case involves an intense
and extensive conflict “judicialization”, with a variety of actors, victims and damages of
different categories, extensions and severities. The proportions and representativeness of the case
at national and international levels have created social expectations in relation to the reparatory
measures and judicial responses to the disaster and namely in relation to the appropriate
punishment against the liable corporations due to be held accountable for the dam collapse. The
imposition of sanctions that accomplish not only its retributive/symbolic purposes but also its
preventive goals is usually expected. Based on previous judicial and empirical research and book
publication in Brazil, this article aims to analyse the case from a criminological perspective,
considering the complexity and interdisciplinarity inherent to the disaster. It intends to observe
the judicial responses to the events, in any of its spheres: administrative, criminal, civil and
extrajudicial. In light of the limitations of the Brazilian legal system and the fragile national
corporate regulation, it questions the potentials of the judicial responses to provide victim
reparation and prevention of future corporate and environmental criminality.