Court upholds ruling for RN Government to reform state school in Natal

The judges who make up the 1st Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice, by unanimous vote, denied appeals filed against the sentence handed down by the 4th Public Finance Court of Natal which determined that the State of Rio Grande do Norte that, within 12 months, counted of the final judgment, fully promote the renovation of the building where the Ferreira Itajubá State School operates, in the neighborhood of Neópolis, in Natal.

The renovation must be carried out in accordance with the interventions indicated in the report attached to the process, leaving its facilities safe to receive students, teachers and staff, as provided for in Decree No. 5,296/04, NBR 9050/2004 and other relevant legislation – under penalty of having to respond for a single fine of one million reais, to be settled after a final and unappealable decision and paid through the Precatório system, for non-compliance, to be reverted to a fund linked to the promotion of public school policies at the state level.

The decision was determined in the records of the Public Civil Action proposed by the Public Ministry against the State of Rio Grande do Norte. In the appeal, the State of RN claimed that “the requests of the State Public Prosecutor’s Office are obstructed by the principles pertaining to the separation of Powers and budgetary sovereignty, in accordance with arts. 2nd, 25, 165 et seq. of the Federal Constitution, (…)”.

He stated that, given the lack of prior budgetary allocation, it would not be appropriate to speak of an obligation to do so on the part of the State, justifying that such a situation would violate the Fiscal Responsibility Law nº 101/2000. He defended the violation of the principle of reserving the possible, saying that something higher than the State’s payment limit or its economic/financial conditions cannot be determined.

On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor’s Office also filed a Civil Appeal requesting its knowledge and approval to reform the sentence and impose a personal fine on the Governor of the State of RN and the State Secretary of Education and Culture of RN.

The rapporteur of the appeals, judge Dilermando Mota, understood that, in cases of omission by the state entity, the Judiciary must intervene to ensure, in accordance with the law, the right to accessibility for people with physical disabilities or reduced mobility, who have constitutional provision. He explained that the Public Ministry is entitled, guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and Law No. 8,625 / 93, to promote public civil action with the objective of protecting the right to accessibility.

He clarified that, denying the protection sought in the case, failing to guarantee the fundamental right of people with physical disabilities or reduced mobility, the State violates the Law and the Federal Constitution and violates the dignity of the human person, given that the The right to accessibility cannot be relativized, especially because, in the case analyzed, it aims to guarantee the fundamental right to education, which is prioritized when it comes to people with special needs.

Finally, it decided that the State of Rio Grande do Norte appears as a defendant, with the State Governor and the State Secretary of Education and Culture having no legitimacy to respond for the punitive fine imposed, due to non-compliance with a court decision, since did not join the dispute. Thus, he maintained the sentence in all its terms.

With information from TJRN