A problemática do uso de depósitos judiciais e extrajudiciais pelo poder público

Abstract

This article’s central objective is to elucidate the debate over the constitutionality of legal statutes that allow state-members to make use of judicial and extrajudicial deposits, in order to pay for various expenses. This will be done so in light of the current fiscal and financial crisis, and by taking into account the need to find new forms of financing public benefits, beyond simply increasing the levels of taxation or, worse, borrowing from the same banks that keep the deposits. We will begin by clarifying what is at stake behind this whole controversy: what is the real purpose of the laws in question, to whom they are directed, which guarantees are offered to the depositors, and particularly who is really affected by this legislative innovation. By bringing to light the political and economic origins of the dispute, which resulted from a series of constitutional actions brought before the Brazilian Supreme Court, we intend to correct a few errors in the treatment of this matter. Here, the paper will consider the role and the limits of judicial review, especially the problematic of the legalization or judicialization of political issues. Finally, we shall set out what we believe to be the true legal problem at hand, namely, the compatibility between federal and state rules regarding the public allocation of the deposits.