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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• Constituição, Universidade, Autonomia, Direito administrativo, Autarquia federal