Sacredness of the constitutional text and interpretative heresy: the Brazilian Supreme Court decision on same-sex civil unions

The paper provides a close lecture of the arguments and methods of legal construction, employed in the extensive individual opinions written by the Justices of the Brazilian Supreme Court in the case which authorized the same sex civil union. After tracing an outline of the legal problem and his possible solutions, we analyze the individual opinions, showing their methodological syncretism, the use of legal methods and arguments in a contradictory way as well the deficiencies in the reasoning. The Justices use legal arguments, but do not meet the requirements of rationality in the decision-making. We have a rhetorical attempt that aims to satisfy the public opinion than to offer a comprehensive and coherent solution according the normative elements of the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988.

Construction of facilities under asymmetric information: do constitutional constraints matter?

This paper studies construction of facilities in a federal state under asymmetric information. A country consists of two regions, each ruled by a local authority. The federal government plans to construct a facility in one of the regions. The facility generates a local value in the host region and has spillover effects in the other region. The federal government does not observe the local value because it is the local authority's private information. 80 the federal governrnent designs an incentive-compatible mechanism, specifying if the facility should be constructed and a balanced scheme of interregional transfers to finance its cost. The federal governrnent is constitutionally constrained to respect a given leveI of each region's welfare. We show that depending upon the facility's local value and the spillover effect, the governrnent faces different incentive problems. Moreover, their existence depends crucially on how stringent constitutional constraints are. Therefore, the optimal mechanism will also depend upon these three features of the model.

Uma análise crítica do papel da jurisprudência no planejamento tributário: tensões principiológicas e desafios à uniformidade

Como em países de tradição civil law, o sistema jurídico brasileiro consagra a lei como fonte primária e garantia do Estado de Direito. A hermenêutica, como teoria científica da arte de interpretar, impõe-se em nosso sistema como canal destinado a suprir as vaguezas e imprecisões da lei e resolver-lhe os conflitos normativos, pelos métodos e critérios tradicionais. A jurisprudência, entendida como um conjunto uniforme e constante de decisões sobre assuntos similares, tem um papel secundário, e as ideias de Direito e Justiça, nesse contexto, muito se aproximam da lei. Com a promulgação da Constituição democrática de 1988, e o renascimento do direito constitucional brasileiro, cujo marco filosófico é o pós-positivismo, o constituinte atribuiu normatividade aos princípios constitucionais. Mas não sistematizou as relações dos princípios entre si, e destes com regras igualmente positivadas na Constituição, fazendo emergir certas tensões principiológicas e também entre princípios e regras constitucionais. Superado o modelo positivista, que equiparava o Direito à lei, ganharam grande importância as discussões relacionadas à neutralidade do aplicador da norma, e os voluntarismos e personalismos praticados sob ideais subjetivos de justiça. Nesse novo contexto, a jurisprudência assume papel protagonista, e aproxima o modelo brasileiro das jurisdições do common law. Entretanto, a vinculação apenas extraordinária dos julgadores aos precedentes, que deita raízes no regime de livre convencimento, induz falta de uniformidade e de coerência dos julgados, acerca de questões jurídicas similares, comprometendo a estabilidade, gerando incerteza e insegurança jurídica, e por via de consequência, relevantes empecilhos ao planejamento empresarial e aos investimentos que dele dependem, o que tende a gerar prejuízos ao ambiente de negócios do País. Essa perspectiva tem o objetivo de demonstrar que o Direito, enquanto sistema harmônico de normas, requer limites claros, e que esses limites, em nosso sistema constitucional, significam precisamente a imposição de métodos que assegurem à sociedade pronunciamentos uniformes e coerentes por parte do aplicador da norma, mediante observância de precedentes adequadamente sopesados em direção à harmonia, segurança jurídica e previsibilidade.

Transcriptoma diferencial entre células-tronco mesenquimais humanas jovens e senescentes

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are powerful sources for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. The long time cultivation can result in replicative senescence or can be related to the emergence of chromosomal alterations responsible for the acquisition of tumorigenesis features in vitro. In this study, for the first time, the expression profile of MSC with a paracentric chromosomal inversion (MSC/inv) was compared to normal karyotype (MSC/n) in early and late passages. Furthermore, we compared the transcriptome of each MSC in early passages with late passages. MSC used in this study were obtained from the umbilical vein of three donors, two MSC/n and one MSC/inv. After their cryopreservation, they have been expanded in vitro until reached senescence. Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen) and marked with the GeneChip ® 3 IVT Express Kit (Affymetrix Inc.). Subsequently, the fragmented aRNA was hybridized on the microarranjo Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 arrays (Affymetrix Inc.). The statistical analysis of differential gene expression was performed between groups MSC by the Partek Genomic Suite software, version 6.4 (Partek Inc.). Was considered statistically significant differences in expression to p-value Bonferroni correction ˂.01. Only signals with fold change ˃ 3.0 were included in the list of differentially expressed. Differences in gene expression data obtained from microarrays were confirmed by Real Time RT-PCR. For the interpretation of biological expression data were used: IPA (Ingenuity Systems) for analysis enrichment functions, the STRING 9.0 for construction of network interactions; Cytoscape 2.8 to the network visualization and analysis bottlenecks with the aid of the GraphPad Prism 5.0 software. BiNGO Cytoscape pluggin was used to access overrepresentation of Gene Ontology categories in Biological Networks. The comparison between senescent and young at each group of MSC has shown that there is a difference in the expression parttern, being higher in the senescent MSC/inv group. The results also showed difference in expression profiles between the MSC/inv versus MSC/n, being greater when they are senescent. New networks were identified for genes related to the response of two of MSC over cultivation time. Were also identified genes that can coordinate functional categories over represented at networks, such as CXCL12, SFRP1, xvi EGF, SPP1, MMP1 e THBS1. The biological interpretation of these data suggests that the population of MSC/inv has different constitutional characteristics, related to their potential for differentiation, proliferation and response to stimuli, responsible for a distinct process of replicative senescence in MSC/inv compared to MSC/n. The genes identified in this study are candidates for biomarkers of cellular senescence in MSC, but their functional relevance in this process should be evaluated in additional in vitro and/or in vivo assays

Quilombo urbano maloca: territorialidade e ressignificação de processos identitários

Currently in the social sciences the question of self-identity and its meanings, absorb as a central objective aspects that concern analysis of an imaginary (re) constructed from processes of identity affirmation. Ethnic discourse in the consolidation of social boundaries (re) assemble a social policy apparatus able to claim their belongings concerning his ancestry, as well as the interpretation of the meanings given to their territory by any group. This dissertation work is the result of an ethnographic study undertaken with the residents of the Community Maloca, Vargas located in the neighborhood adjacent to the commercial center in Aracaju - SE. Since February 2007 the group is certified by FCP - Palmares Cultural Foundation as a lasting community, while it is part of a special gift for being an urban center, varying from the majority of that remaining Maroons in their contexts, outcrops and specific land rural. It focuses on the work process of territorial formation of the hut, and the arrival of their first actors, contextualizing the process of legitimation refers to the territory they live, as well as the various narratives that (re) construct the time he lived, the relations kinship, conflict, the process of self-affirmation as runaways and the relationship of belonging with their living space / living contained in the imaginary city of Aracaju. Attempts are made to the opportunity to understand the meanings that affirm their ethnicity, parallel group for the pursuit of effective policies and guarantee of constitutional rights in the urban context.

Acordos internacionais sobre a produção compartilhada de recursos naturais: a unitização interestatal na área do petróleo e gás sob o enfoque constitucional brasileiro

The apportionment of natural resources between sovereign States is a subject that relates many aspects of International law, as long as Constitutional Law, at the execution and application phases of international treaties that regulates the exploration of common goods. In this sense, because of their natural characteristics that creates an environment of constant migration and fixation in transboundary regions, terrestrial or maritime, the petroleum and the natural gas bound a complex juridical apparatus that can control the sovereign rights involved. This research is aim at accomplishing a study concerning the international agreements that enable the non-unilateral action, specifically the unitization treaties between sovereign States, as a manner to resolve situations related to the individualization of oil and/or gas reservoirs that go across their national borders. These agreements will be analyzed considering the international public law sources theory, bearing in mind yet the already existed experiences in this sense, not disregarding the way that this fact could affect Brazil. It will begin with an historical incursion over the unitization institute, covering its main characteristics and its formation and execution procedures, and finally it will address the Brazilian legal system and the comparative law threats the institute. The clauses of these relevant agreements will be analyzed in details, concerning its particularities and its contents. Because these agreements are international obligatory rules of law, it is indispensable that they are considered under the auspices of the international law system, focusing their nature and the subjects of international law and establishing them as sources of the international law, analyzing them, then, as international rules and the applicable law to these juridical relations, the conventional established, the consolidated international custom and the applicable International Law principles, appearing the State s responsibility as an important subject for the verification of the acts lawful practiced by States. The analysis of the apportionment of these natural resources ends with the individualization of possible exploitable marine oil fields located between the exclusive economic zone and the continental platform ends and the region administrated by the International Seabed Authority. At last, the Brazilian constitutional system appears as the mechanism of integration, application and execution of the international unitization agreements in Brazil, detaching the format and the proceedings that the international treaties take to acquire validity at the national legal system, passing through the treaties interpretation and the applicable constitutional principles, coming to its application in Brazil, considering the existing constitutional peculiarities and the role played by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and bio-fuel ANP

A ação civil pública como meio de concretização do direito à saúde na Constituição de 1988

The work presented here is about aspects of the constitutional extension in which is the public civil action with the objective of verifying its aptitute in tutelaging subjective situations derived from fundamental rights, especially right to health assistance. Thus, it offers a clear analysis of the practical functioning of most aspects of the public civil action (lawsuit), with philosophical foundation and necessary doctrinaire to your comphehension. How it once was (history), how it could be (reform suggestion), how it is (current interpretation of the law) and how it should be (critic analysis of the microsystem of collective tutelaging of rights, its perspectives, as well as the efficacy of the public cilvil action about accomplishment of the right to health as supraindividual right). The objective is to analyse the main version of the theme (for instance: the impacts caused to the dissociation of the Procurations theory), so that it can be extracted the philosophy and the general theory, of the public civil action and collective tutelaging in general, pragmatically applicable to study purposes. With this theorical fountain, the reader will be in a more solid position, not only being able to understand the subtilities of the public civil action, but mainly being able to recognize its faults and present solid reform proposals and improvement. It is know that the Juridical Power (Procuration) does not allow any more inactivity about negating accession to health in its collective dimension (lato sensu: spread, collective stricto sensu and homogeneous individuals), being imputed to it novel usage that consolidates in the assumption of the role instrument set aside to be used by all with organized instancy of solution to collective conflicts in large sense. This happens, overall, because of the current justice politization, understood as juridical activism, connected to the struggle between the groups defending their interests and the acceptance of the constitution about solidifying the public politics of quality health

A construction como método concretizador de direitos fundamentais: aplicação na jurisdição constitucional brasileira

The way of organization of the constitutional jurisdiction implies the possibility to extend the democratization of the same one in function of the popular participation in the active legitimacy to constitutional process (procedimentalist model) e, at the same time, to assure technical viable decisions fast and to the complex problems of the constitucional law (substancialist model). The comparison with the constitutional jurisdiction of U.S.A. becomes interesting from the knowledge of the wide power to decide experience of Supreme the Court that for a methodology of construction of rights and not simply of interpretation of the Constitution, brought up to date and reconstructed throughout its historical evolution the direction of the norms of basic rights and the North American principles constitutional. Construction while constitutional hermeneutic method of substancialist matrix works with techniques as the measurement of principles, the protection of interests of minorities and the entailing of the basic rights with values politicians, what it can be brought to evidence of the Brazilian constitutional jurisdiction in order to improve the construction of basic rights that comes being carried through for the judicial ativism in control of the diffuse and abstract constitutionality. To define the limits of construction is to search, on the other hand, a dialogue with the procedimentalists thesis, aiming at the widening of the participation of the citizen in the construction of the basic rights for the constitutional process and to argue forms of the society to evaluate the pronounced decisions activist in the controls diffuse and abstract of constitutionality

A concretização do princípio da igualdade em matéria tributária por meio de sentenças aditivas

This work aims to study the additive decisions, a type of juridical interpretation developed in foreign legal systems and which are known in Italy as adittive sentences. Thefore, this dissertation is based on theorical studies developed around the subject in Italy and Brazil. Considering the fact that the fundamental rights face a problem of implementation, being decreased its normative force when there are legislative partial omissions lacking constitutional justification creating privileges to certain individuals or social/economical groups over others, the method of additive interpretation according to the Constitution can be used in order to realize the principle of equality. In tax matters the subject is even more relevant in the way that it represents an important role in the economy. Partial legislative omissions can generate inequalities, favoring certain taxpayers in relation to others in similar legal situation. In these cases the privilege may have a negative impact on economic order restricting values related to the basis of market competition. On those occasions, Brazilian Judges and Courts must exercise their constitutional jurisdiction in order to expand the effects of the legislative omissions, based on the principle of equality by extending the standard to equal tax situations in order to maintain neutrality in taxation

Federalismo cooperativo e o exercício da competência administrativa ambiental

This paper aims to discuss the conflicts of competence in environmental matters, as well as the legitimacy of the normative acts in the exercise of jurisdiction effected environmental management. For this work, addresses the issue of federalism, North American (dual) and German (cooperative), deepening its historical and theoretical fundamentals, as well as the influences on the evolution of the ideological matrix of Brazilian federalism. Distinguishes itself around the problem the theoretical and abstract discussion involving the constitutional division of powers, and the issue of his relationship with the vicissitudes in the embracement of environmental matters that invariably leads to mistakes in the exercise of jurisdiction environmental management. Its highlight the existence of a framework environmental law, embodying the principles themselves as well as a specific object of authority, which qualifies a different interpretation of the rules of constitutional powers as well as influencing the acting agent of government in managing the public good environment. The study represents an exploratory research as it investigates the depths of the institutes are in evidence not only with satisfying its practical outcome. For this to happen, explores bibliographical sources and identified by the science of law as more important, as the search for social-political boundary which takes the issue studied in their historical and contextual materiality, whose study is essential for a complete understanding of the topic . The dialectic that arguments have been constructed throughout the monograph, attempts to pass a critical way to expose the author's ideas, which considers as essential in the arrival of new questions

O piso salarial nacional: a valorização do professor na Constituição de 1988

The paper investigates the legal mechanisms used by the Legislature and the Executive to implement the constitutional principle of the teacher s minimum wage, which is proclaimed in the Constitution as a strategy of professional appreciation for this category. The text demonstrates that the legal mechanisms used to value the teacher were: the 1988 Constitution, the constitutional amendments to this Charter updated and modified the original text in relation to the matter, and finally, the Minimum Wage Law . Article nº 206 of 1988 s Federal Constitution established that basic education teachers, who work in public schools, would be entitled to a national minimum wage. Law nº 11.738/2008 ( Minimum Wage Law ) regulated the matter and made other determinations on the relationship between the State and the teachers such as the establishment of parameters for the distribution of the workload of teachers. Based on this law, since 2009 the minimum wage has been set annually by the Federal Government. However, state governments and municipalities throughout Brazil protested prescriptions contained in the Minimum Wage Law . In this context, some governors and mayors led the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of this law. The complainants considered that there was unconstitutional by the following: definition of the teacher s workday, which in the complainants point of view was competence of local governments; ensuring that teachers receive salaries tied to the minimum wage with retroactive effect; transformation of the minimum wage in basic salary, lack of sufficient budget in the states and municipalities to honor with the new values to be paid to teachers and, finally, determining workload for the teacher to perform other activities besides classroom activities. At the trial held at the STF the majority of Ministers rejected the claim and considered that the Minimum Wage Law , taken together, was constitutional. However, this decision did not alter the position of the managers or the interpretation of the ministers who agreed with the unconstitutionality of some aspects of the law. This means that one law can present differences in interpretation between ordinary people and among members of the Judiciary. The search showed the following conclusions: the law is not a definitive parameter of justice, because it is deeply linked to various interests; the development, implementation, and judgment of laws dealing with minimum wage of teaching are linked to historical and cultural aspects of society; the demand for enhancement of teacher and setting a minimum wage has only emerged in the late twentieth century, a fact explained in this work based on data that indicate the recent concern of Brazilian State with schooling a phenomenon typically Republican and with the professionalization of teaching emerging concern from the knowledge society; the Legislative and Executive search mechanism to implement the minimum wage of the teachers because of the contemporary need for professionalization of teaching