Convalidação de Registros Paroquiais de Imóveis Rurais no Estado do Tocantins: conflitos de competência entre a União e os Estados

Abstract

Land tenure regularization in Brazil remains a historical and legal challenge arising from the colonial formation of agrarian structures marked by land concentration, prolonged occupation of public lands, and institutional fragility in the recognition of property rights. The extinction of the sesmaria system and the enactment of the Land Law of 1850 inaugurated a transitional period in which possession became central to land relations, without the immediate consolidation of an effective land registry system. In this context, parish land records were established with administrative and statistical purposes and held a merely declaratory nature, serving as evidence of possession or occupation rather than constituting property rights or integrating the formal land registry system. In the State of Tocantins, created by the 1988 Federal Constitution, this historical land tenure backlog became particularly evident due to the delayed implementation of the land registry system and the existence of extensive areas with uncertain dominial status. The enactment of State Law No. 3,525/2019, which validates rural land registrations lacking origin in public alienation or concession titles, introduced a normative innovation that revived the debate over the constitutional limits of state legislative competence in matters related to public records. This research analyzes the constitutionality and legal effects of the validation of parish land records provided by the aforementioned law, in light of the exclusive legislative competence of the Union to regulate public records (Article 22, item XXV, of the Federal Constitution), the Brazilian Public Records Law (Law No. 6,015/1973), and the case law of higher courts. A qualitative legal-critical methodology is adopted, based on normative, doctrinal, and jurisprudential analysis, aiming to assess the impacts of this legislative option on legal certainty, land tenure regularization, and the Brazilian federal system.