The Accidental Federal Agency: On the Dismantle of Constitutional Dispositions Concerning Brazilian Higher Educational System by Administrative Law and its Effects on the Federal Universities

• Main Author: Davi Monteiro Diniz
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-graduação em Direito (CONPEDI) 2015-12-01
• Series: Revista de Direito Administrativo e Gestão Pública
• Subjects: Constituição, Universidade, Autonomia, Direito administrativo, Autarquia federal
• Online Access: http://www.indexlaw.org/index.php/rdagp/article/view/173

The  Brazilian  Federal  Constitution  of  1988  establishes  the  autonomy  of  Brazilian universities. Moreover, it commands that the universities should not disassociate their activities in teaching, research and extension. This paper considers whether the current administrative law allows the Brazilian public federal universities to accomplish these goals. Departing from the legal approach of these federal universities as executive (administrative) agencies, this paper analyzes the main effects of such legal status on the capacity of federal universities  to  fulfill  their  academic  mission,  revealing  a  persistent  gap  between  the constitutional  prescriptions  and  the  administrative  law  concerning  Brazilian  federal universities. It concludes that such legislative discrepancy is clearly detrimental to the constitutional order.