Organization

A Meeting of the Plenary - The Court's Headquarters, in Brasília

Being a collegiate body, the Brazilian Court of Audit, its deliberations are usually taken by the Plenary of the Court, its highest authority, or when applicable, by one of its two Chambers.

According to the Constitution, ministers may be selected from among Brazilians between the ages of thirty-five and sixty-five, of moral integrity and unquestioned reputation, who possess recognized knowledge in the areas of law, accounting, finance, or public administration and who have a minimum of ten years experience in such capacity or in professional activity that requires said knowledge.

The Plenary and the two Chambers of the Court usually meet once a week, on alternate days, between January 17th and December 16th of each year and, extraordinarily, whenever necessary.

Extraordinary sessions are called to handle administrative matters or whenever there is a need for protecting the rights of individuals or the public interest.

Sessions usually are held under strict confidentiality in order to deliberate over law suits which mostly involve denunciations where, therefore, the name of the accuser must be kept confidential.

The Court's President and Vice-President are elected by their peers for a one-year-term and may be re-elected once.

Plenary 

The Plenary, made up of all the ministers, meets on Wednesdays. Chaired by the President of the Court, it is the duty of the Plenary to deliberate over the most important issues, as listed under the Court's Internal Bylaws under the title "Jurisdiction Power of the Plenary".

Chambers

The First and Second Chambers meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively. Each chamber is made up of four ministers. One of them is chaired by the Vice-President, while the other is chaired by the senior-most minister in office.

Matters attributed to the Chambers are described in the Court's Internal Bylaws under the title "Jurisdiction Power of the Chambers".

The Department of Justice adjunct to the Brazilian Court of Audit

The Department of Justice adjunct to the Brazilian Court of Audit is made up of an attorney general, three deputy attorney generals, and four attorneys, appointed by the President of the Republic from among law degree holders who have previously passed a public competition.

The Attorney General adjunct to the Court, pursuant to his mission as a guardian of the law and inspector of its enforcement, has, before the Court, the responsibility of maintaining and defending the legal order, as described in the Court's Internal Bylaws under the title "Department of Justice".

The presence of a representative of the office of the Department of Justice is mandatory in sessions involving adjudication of accounts, audits, representations and accusations.