PUBLIC BASIC SANITATION SERVICES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL REGIME OF OWNERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE DECENTRALIZATION UNDER THE FOCUS OF LAW No. 14.026/2020 (NEW SANITATION LEGAL FRAMEWORK)

Abstract

Public basic sanitation services are essential for the realization of certain constitutional values that the Carta Maior submits to the State, so that society must make use of the best instruments available to carry out this mission. With this objective, the present study intends to investigate how the law can contribute to this task, establishing for this the issue of private competence to provide these services and the ways in which the contractual means necessary to achieve the objective are operated. On the one hand, we find that the edited order is wrong in allowing the alteration of these competences, on the other hand, that the new legal framework for sanitation has contributed to resolve the problem of market reserve that does not allow competition and the best choice for Administration. Thus, we reveal that, for the most part, the current legal framework serves the interests of certain sectors, contrary to what we consider most important: the public interest.