Tomada de contas especial: influência da fase interna nos resultados do processo no Tribunal de Contas do Estado de Goiás

Abstract

As a relevant instrument of public accountability under the responsibility of the Brazilian Audit Courts, special accounting presents potential protection of the public interest and accountability of agents causing losses to the treasury. However, studies reveal the low effectiveness of this mechanism as a control and accountability process. From another perspective, gradual changes in the jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court reveal that the Brazilian Audit Courts no longer act based on imprescriptibility when, through special accounting, they pursue the reimbursement of public resources and the punishment of erring agents. Based on the assumption that part of the special accounting procedures comprise the combination of the actions of the injured bodies or entities, which carry out the internal phase, and the Audit Courts, responsible for the external phase, as well as the absence of a specific study on the theme, this dissertation project raised the following question, considered as the key question of the research: “to what extent does the internal phase influence the results in the special accounting process at the Court of Auditors of the State of Goiás?”. Thus, this research sought to analyze to what extent the internal phase of special accounting influences the results of the process at the Court of Auditors of the State of Goiás (TCE-GO). To achieve the proposed objectives, this study used documentary research, with a survey of the legal and normative requirements applicable to the process, in accordance with Organic Law, Internal Regulations and Normative Resolutions nº 16/2016 and nº 8/2022, all from TCE-GO; in addition to the content analysis of the judgments handed down by the TCE-GO Full Court in the taking of special accounts, from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022. It also included a field study with interviews with civil servants of TCE-GO who work in the special accounting processes of that Court, to investigate the challenges faced in examining the process. As a result, it was found that in the reference period only 32.15% of the TCEs had their merit judged by the Court of Auditors of the State of Goiás (TCE-GO). A high percentage of cases, 67.84%, were archived due to prescription, illiquidity of accounts and the absence of valid and regular constitution and development assumptions. The internal phase lasted, on average, 6 years, 11 months and 21 days, while the external phase lasted around 4 years, 8 months and 21 days, totaling an average duration of 11 years, 8 months and 13 days for the complete process. The internal phase proved to be crucial for the TCE’s results, with the quality and timing of the investigations directly impacting the process. Interviews with civil servants revealed the need to strengthen the internal phase through the technical training of those responsible for the investigations. The implementation of an electronic management system can improve deadline monitoring, but the quality of the investigations depends on the adequate training of employees. In this sense, a professional training course and a didactic guide on special accounting within the scope of the Court of Auditors of the State of Goiás, called "SIMPLIFICA TCE", were presented as technical technological products, with a view to addressing low technical qualifications. those responsible for the internal phase. It is expected, with the identification of the relationship between the effects of the internal phase on the external phase, as well as the intervention proposals, to present concrete data to the TCE-GO on how it can help injured bodies and entities to improve the internal phase