The acquisition of properties used by the Public Administration

Abstract

On certain occasions, the Government may make use of secondhand properties to achieve their institutional goals due to the lack of budgetary resources for the acquisition of the object in its new state or due to the discontinuation of sales of what is demanded. Once decided by the acquisition of some used object, the Government should redouble precautions in direct contracting or bidding process in order to reduce the risks of acquiring an inefficient and uneconomical object. This article aims at demonstrating that the acquisition of this type of object is legally possible, pointing out the safeguards that the public administrator should have during the hiring process as well as at the moment of receiving the object in order to prevent that such negotiation may be disapproved by the control agencies in the future given the fact that it can be considered illegitimate. This work shows how Courts of Auditors take into consideration this type of contract.