The Evolution of Abstract Constitutional Review Conducted by the Federal District and Territories Court of Justice

Abstract

The article analyzes the formation and development of the abstract constitutional review of Federal District laws conducted by the Federal District and Territories Court of Justice, with the aim of demonstrating the consolidation of this mechanism as an instrument for protecting the Organic Law of the Federal District and ensuring the authority of judicial decisions. It adopts a historical and legal-dogmatic methodology based on the examination of the Federal Constitution, the Organic Law of the Federal District, Law No. 9.868/1999, Law No. 11.697/2008, the case law of the TJDFT, and relevant legal scholarship. It shows that, even in the initial absence of express statutory provision, the local Court affirmed its jurisdiction through a jurisprudential construction grounded in the constitutional nature of the Organic Law, the autonomy of the Federal District, and the need for effective judicial protection, an understanding later formalized by federal legislation. The article also highlights the consolidation of the system after the matter was regulated, the decisive role of the Public Prosecution Service in filing direct actions, and the relevance of the complaint procedure as an instrument designed to ensure the effectiveness of decisions rendered in abstract review. It concludes that the evolution of concentrated constitutional review within the Federal District represented an important institutional strengthening of the Organic Law and of the rule of law itself in the Federal District.