The Federal District (DF) cannot assume the responsibilities of a service provider.
Article 341 of the Organic Law of the Federal District states that, to protect the continuity of essential public services, the government may intervene in the services provided, assuming responsibility for them; however, there is no legal provision for the State to intervene by paying labor charges or any other responsibility that is the exclusive responsibility of the companies providing the public service. Following this understanding, the Special Council of the Court of Justice of the Federal District ruled unconstitutional District Law 5.209/2013, which authorized the Federal District to assume the labor charges of bus drivers hired by companies that no longer operate the local Public Transportation System.
Conjur - Article 341 of the Organic Law of the Federal District states that, to protect the continuity of essential public services, the government may intervene in the services provided, assuming responsibility for them. However, there is no legal provision for the State to intervene by paying labor charges or any other responsibility that falls exclusively on the companies providing the public service.
Following this understanding, the Special Council of the Court of Justice of the Federal District ruled unconstitutional District Law 5.209/2013, which authorized the Federal District to assume the labor costs of bus drivers hired by companies that no longer operate the local Public Transportation System. The decision applies to everyone and has retroactive effects to the date the law was enacted.
At the end of 2013, the panel had already granted an injunction suspending the effects of the law, which was challenged in two direct actions of unconstitutionality filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Federal District and the district branch of the Brazilian Bar Association.
Judge Vera Andrighi, rapporteur for the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), explained in her vote that the enactment of laws by the Public Administration, "even if the objective is to maintain the employability of its citizens and the continuity of essential public services, cannot break the constitutional order in the exercise of power, as organized by the Organic Law of the Federal District (LODF)."
According to her, "despite the nobility of the objectives, the Administration must respect morality, reasonableness, and legality. There is no legal obligation for the GDF [Government of the Federal District] to be automatically jointly liable for the financial obligations of contracts signed by concessionaire or permittee companies with their employees or with any other natural or legal person." Her vote was followed by the other judges of the Special Council of the TJ-DF [Court of Justice of the Federal District].