Normative hierarchies in Brazilian law

• Grant number: 23/08245-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: José Levi Mello do Amaral Júnior
• Grantee: Matheus Pelegrino da Silva
• Supervisor: Matthias Jestaedt
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Direito (FD). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Freiburg, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/15171-1 - Normative hierarchies in Brazilian law, BP.PD

Abstract

Legal norms can be distinguished not only by virtue of their contents, but also because of their hierarchical status in the legal order. The identification of the hierarchical status of the different kinds of norms consists of an approach through which it is possible to establish the limits of law creation, solve normative conflicts and finally promote the implementation of the goals of the rule of law, predictability, the democratic legitimacy of the state representative's acts and legal certainty. It is by taking into consideration particularly this last goal that the aim of the proposed project is to investigate the matter of normative hierarchies in Brazilian law. The main goals of the project are to identify the different normative hierarchies present in the Brazilian legal order, highlight their properties and critically analyze the contributions of the legal literature and case law to this subject. Two major tasks will be performed in order to accomplish these main goals. Initially a general theory of the normative hierarchizations (of the legal staircase-like constructions) will be presented in order to clarify the main notions regarding the hierarchical organization of the norms and indicate the grounds for this organization. In a second stage this general theory will be applied in the analysis and classification of the normative kinds that are present in the Brazilian legal order, as well as to indicate the kinds of hierarchical relations that these normative kinds establish with each other. It should also be highlighted that similar research has been developed in foreign literature (as is indicated in detail in the research project), which indicates the plausibility and feasibility of the proposed research project. (AU)