TITLE:
On the Unconstitutionality of the Central Bank’s Autonomy: The Case of Brazil
AUTHORS:
David F. L. Gomes
KEYWORDS:
Central Bank’s Autonomy, Brazil, Popular Sovereignty, Fundamental Political Rights, Separation of Powers
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.16 No.2,
April
22,
2025
ABSTRACT: The present text aims to discuss the autonomy of the Central Bank of Brazil from the perspective of constitutional law and constitutional theory. In other words, it seeks to question whether this autonomy, as it is currently legally structured, respects the normative framework of the 1988 Constitution. More directly, it questions, once again, the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of Complementary Law 179 of 2021. To this end, the main arguments employed refer to popular sovereignty, fundamental political rights, and the separation of powers. The discussion begins by examining the relationship between self-determination in modern law and the problem of legal interpretation. It then addresses the nature of economics as a social science and, more directly, the legal structure of popular sovereignty, internally connected to the exercise of fundamental political rights and the separation of powers. Finally, it explores the institutional duty of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court in a case such as this and the possibility of the Court revisiting its previous decision on the matter. The theoretical and methodological framework adopted is Jürgen Habermas’s discourse theory of law and democracy.