Professional supervisory councils in Brazil, sui generis autonomous entities, and the framework Law for professional public associations in Portugal: a comparative study

Abstract

Professional supervisory councils are sui generis authorities, designed to supervise the exercise of professions. In Brazil, they are involved in controversial ontological issues and the governing legislation is old, fragmented and casuistic, inadequate to deal with the complex problems of these entities. Councils have been little studied regarding their federative structure, organization, management, control mechanisms, accountability, regulatory action and fulfillment of purposes of collective interest. The theme was recently revived by the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution 108/2019, by decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Auditors. Having professional self-regulation as its theoretical context and objectives to find subsidies for legal discipline, organization, governance and control over the actions of councils, the article promotes, in selected aspects, a comparative analysis of Brazilian legislation with the framework law for professional public associations in Portugal, and concludes that Portuguese legislation, which has advanced in the direction of defining the right applicable and balancing the collective interest with the general interests of the professions, both present in a self-regulation model, constitutes a relevant paradigm to guide the normative and functional improvement of the Brazilian system.