The Rule of Law in Brazilian States’ Legislation: Evidences from Brazilian Supreme Court

Leon Victor de Queiroz Barbosa (Federal University of Pernambuco)
José Mario Wanderley Gomes Neto (Federal University of Pernambuco)
Ernani Carvalho (Federal University of Pernambuco)
Fabrizio Polany Almeida Santos (Catholic University of Pernambuco)

Abstract: The institutional design in Brazil authorizes all States of the Federation and the Federal District to produce legislation in pre-defined themes selected in the Federal Constitution. State legislators must obey such limits and respect constitutional norms in rule making process to preserve a desirable rule of law enviroment. This paper focuses on the analysis of Supreme Court’s decisions in state legislation judicial review in other to identify the cases where can be found constitutional violations in relevant issues, as tax law, administrative law or basic rights, pointing the quality of Brazilian States’ law and testing a set of hypothesis related to the production of unconstitutional norms.


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