Controle pelos Tribunais de Contas sobre o gasto dos royalties da mineração

Abstract

This study examines how State and, where applicable, Municipal Courts of Accounts exercise external oversight over the expenditure of CFEM resources. The research is situated within the broader context of the persistent mismatch between the expansion of mining activities and the social indicators of the State of Pará, one of Brazil’s leading mineral-producing regions. Financial law frameworks that seek to negotiate the tension between hoarding and exploitation—and, in part, to safeguard intergenerational equity—produce direct practical consequences for the oversight of royalty spending, including that carried out by the Courts of Accounts. The theoretical component of the study employs a deductive, exploratory approach, relying on bibliographical and documentary research. The empirical component adopts a multiple case study method, providing a descriptive analysis of institutional practices based on qualitative jurisprudential research, identifying prevailing interpretive approaches and procedural trends (Queiroz and Fefferbaum, 2019). The theoretical framework draws on the works of R. Oliveira, Scaff, Silveira, R. Torres, Lima, and Enriquez. The literature review is combined with case-law analysis in order to clarify how theoretical classifications are operationalized in practice and how they influence external oversight. The findings of the jurisprudential analysis are presented through the aggregation of decisions into analytical groups, enabling a clearer understanding of the interpretive orientations and institutional dynamics of each court studied. The study concludes that, by strengthening transparency, accountability, and incentives for social oversight, the Courts of Accounts can help ensure that royalties operate as instruments for development rather than being trivialized as ordinary revenue. This contribution is particularly relevant through legality review—ensuring compliance with spending prohibitions and transparency and traceability requirements—as well as through legitimacy and cost-effectiveness assessments of expenditures. The study underscores the importance of intensifying oversight activities, especially in states where socioeconomic indicators—contrasted with the significant royalty transfers received—suggest a heightened need for the strategic allocation of CFEM resources. As an applied output, the research supported a lecture delivered at the VI Seminar on Taxation and Human Rights at the Federal University of Pará, within the event Climate Justice and Development: Dialogues Surrounding COP30, held parallel to the UN Conference of the Parties (COP) in Belém on 12 November 2025.