Professional self-regulation and control

new meanings from the perspective of contemporary Public Administration

Abstract

The present study proposes to explore professional self-regulation in Brazil, manifested through the Professional Inspection Councils, with the aim of assessing the need for internal control of these entities by the Federal Executive Branch, an issue raised by the Federal Court of Auditors. The research addresses the legal nature of professional corporations, identified as parastatal public entities that operate as autonomous administrative spaces in relation to the central executive branch. The autonomous legitimacy of these entities, distinct from the democratic legitimacy applied to Public Administration in general, is highlighted. The study also investigates the characteristics of pluricentrism and hybridity of the Public Administration of the 21st century, inherent to contexts in which the public and the private merge, and the need to overcome legacies of the Liberal State, such as the principle of unity. The work also analyzes how the Professional Orders are treated in comparative law, focusing on the Portuguese order, and explores the concepts of tutelage, ministerial supervision and internal control. The methodology of the work was based on the analysis of the legislation applicable to the entities that supervise the professional exercise, the doctrinal positions and the analysis of the judgment of the audit process on the subject by the Federal Court of Auditors. The results indicate that the supervision of the Federal Executive Branch in professional corporations is inadequate, due to the lack of legal provision, the potential conflict with the system of own control already existing in the Professional Inspection Councils and the violation of the self-administration and self-responsibility of these entities.