Tribunais de Contas (Courts of Audit): the new protagonist of the 30th year of the Brazilian Constitution

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 did not create the Courts of Audit, which exist in Brazil since the XIX century and nowadays are present in each state and federal governments and serve the purpose to control the public budget and to judge how the officials manage public money. Nevertheless, the Brazilian Constitution promulgated in 1988 gave a fresh role to these Courts, expanding the fields of their action, mainly after Supreme Court decisions, which has interpreted the Constitution and has conceded powers to them. This paper aims to investigate the new role of Courts of Audit, exposing the concerns about the expanded field of the public affairs control and proposing a new organized bureaucratic structure of the Brazilian Government.