Trends

The desire for better governmental services, transparency in public administration, respect for the rights of citizens, honesty in handling public property and finances, sound business judgment, efficiency and efficacy in the use of public resources is ever present within Brazilian society. Citizens yearn for morality and excellence in public governance.

Given the significant expansion of its attributions set forth by the new Constitution and by subsequent common legislation, the Brazilian Court of Audit simultaneously performs the roles of inspector and judge of governmental management and that of partner of the citizens in the external control of public administration.

In recent years, in addition to its inspecting duties, the Court has been expanding its educational role and increasing its action in terms of the provision of guidelines for public managers, as well as the application of operational audits whose purpose, as mentioned before, is to assess the performance of bodies and entities, with respect to their efficiency and efficacy, in addition to the effectiveness of the governmental programs vis-à-vis the achievement of the purposes they are aimed at.

Information technology has been playing an increasingly fundamental role in the interaction between society and the State. As a result, the Court has expanded the use of IT systems to render its actions more agile and to broaden the spectrum of information placed at the disposal of citizens, so that the management of federal resources becomes more transparent, thus allowing for greater social control.

The Court has endeavored to keep up with the evolution of society's demands and the changes in the public sector as well as to stay current with advances in informational technology, continually improving its systems to position itself as one of the leaders in the application of modern resources and procedures of external control. Its objective is to ensure the ongoing and effective administration of public funds for the benefit of society.