The lack of legislative preventive control of conventionality of the Provisional Measure 936/2020

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic has had numerous social, political, economic and legal consequences around the world. Among the measures recommended by health authorities is social distancing, a recommendation that significantly affected Brazilian society and economy, with a high rate of informality. The President of the Republic of Brazil, after a period of inertia marked by denial of the seriousness of the disease, issued Provisional Measure 936/2020 containing changes in the scope of Labor Law in order to protect the economy and also the jobs of Brazilians. However, even in the case of an atypical pandemic context that requires exceptional actions, the legal measures adopted must be compatible with the Federal Constitution and with international conventions, especially those ratified by the Brazilian State within the scope of the International Labor Organization. Therefore, all public authorities involved in the elaboration of the necessary measures to face the consequences of the pandemic must carry out the constitutionality and conventionality controls. Thus, the present work discussed the conventionality control through a bibliographical review and through the analysis of the opinion of the Mixed Commission of the National Congress on the Provisional Measure 936/2020. It was verified that such control did not exist in relation to Provisional Measure 936/2020, despite its incompatibility with International Labor Organization conventions ratified by the Brazilian State, a fact capable of giving rise to the international responsibility of Brazil. © 2021 Centro Universitario de Brasilia. All rights reserved.