The exercise of some professions in Brazil requires, in addition to the diploma, the qualification and registration in a class body we call the professional inspection council. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, psychologists, accountants and other twenty careers are, by law, subject to the supervision of these entities, and must follow the ethical principles established by them under penalty of, in theory, being punished if they do not.
Being public entities, it is evident that the LAI (Access to Information Law) is applicable to the councils, which must be accountable to society about their activities and use of their resources. However, still in 2016, the Ministers of the Federal Court of Auditors had to reiterate the obvious and determine to these entities. At the time, despite the relevance of the councils to ensure that our population is attended by ethical and qualified professionals, the court found that most of them function as an almost literal black cashier, not publishing contracts, minutes of meetings, remuneration, among other information .
Although almost eight years have been TCU’s first decision on the subject, we are still light years from the ideal scenario. At the end of 2024, the Court’s audit found that, in the 2022 year, the councils raised a total of R $ 6.7 billion, but only 11% of their expenses were inspection, and 69 of the 554 did not allocate to appeal to this area. In addition, 273 entities (almost half of them) did not provide data in open formats, preventing studies and analysis by experts.
As the strategy of giving the oxen operates, in January this year the TCU released the creation of a data panel and a transparency ranking, where most councils do not even reach 60% of the inspected items. The Federal Council of, against which you know it has already won a lawsuit to provide data from punished doctors, meets a mere 58% of the required items.
Responsible for overseeing the activity of civilian, electricians and agronomists, the Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy meets the ridiculous 11%of the analyzed questions, being below even the dental councils (19%) and Nursing (12%). In the flashlight between respondents, veterinary councils (9%) and (3%) show that nearly 14 years of LAI have not yet been enough to establish a culture of transparency.
The existence of structured and operationally trained entities to reiterate that the provision of essential services is performed in an ethical, professional and secure manner is essential for our country. Preventive inspections, when carried out in an organized manner, can help prevent tragedies from recurring. However, for this to happen recurrently and reliable, our professional advice must be able to demonstrate to the population that they are more than corporatist institutions and captured by particular interests of the few. Strengthening transparency and observance of the duty to account for is the only possible way to achieve this autonomy.
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