In an article published in JOTA, Daniella Felix Teixeira discusses the recent Judgment 1460/2025 of the Plenary Session of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), reported by Minister Bruno Dantas, which set an important precedent on the limits of financial liability of public officials for damage to the public purse.
According to our lawyer, the case concerns an appeal for review filed by the former mayor of São José dos Pinhais (PR) against Judgment 7.790/2018-2nd Chamber, which, after appeals and reviews, was only published in 2022. The origin of the controversy lies in the Special Audit initiated due to alleged irregularities in the emergency contracting of health services, with funds from the National Health Fund.
For Daniella, the ruling is an opportunity for institutional reflection on the parameters of accountability in the actions of the Courts of Auditors. Above all, by assuming that not every technical failure is subject to accountability, but rather acts committed in bad faith or with serious negligence.
This move towards greater rigour in holding public managers accountable is also in line with recent amendments to the Administrative Impropriety Law, promoted by Law 14,230/2021, which now requires specific intent as a condition for liability for improper conduct. Although this is a separate legal regime, the legislative amendment reinforces a common normative guideline: that public officials cannot be held liable for acting in good faith within the margin of technical or administrative discretion granted to them by law,” he states.