Present state of legal control in administrative actions: What is left after of public law annulment?

Abstract

This work sets as a thesis that the annulment theory in Public Law has suffered a series of backwards steps since it was formulated: both those whose origins lie in legislative shifts as well as in courts decisions evolution. This situation can be noticed from three view points. First of all, in the admission of a kind of tolerated illegality in Act Nº 19.880, as an administrative act is considered foul only when the defect in its procedure possesses some entity or importance. In second term, in the backward step of the recurso de protección as a palliative towards an administrative-contentious act, specially considering the unpredictable result of its admissibility exam. Finally, in courts decisions, which had practically dismembered annulment. This series of backwards steps, more than setting a dogmatic problem, constitute a serious danger for the Rule of Law’s effectiveness.