Public examinations

The holding of public competitive examinations must obey the constitutional principles that govern the administration of any of the Branches of the Republic, relating directly to Article 37, caput, of the 1988 Constitution. Normative acts cannot contradict specific legal provisions, which is a first and fundamental premise not always observed by public administrators. The call notice cannot contradict legislation on points expressly addressed by the legislator. Beyond that, however, it is necessary to observe a series of rules arising from the principles of impersonality, morality, efficiency and equality, all provided for in the Federal Constitution. Note that it is not possible, by virtue of those principles, to pose questions not covered by the subjects and syllabi set out in the call notices. Nor is it lawful to pose ambiguous questions that generate perplexity and doubt in candidates. The ideal is for a prior bibliography to be indicated in the call notice. Nowadays, the scholarship is so broad that a possible omission in the call notice may give rise to genuine arbitrariness on the part of the examiner in choosing the reference works. Case law must be the most direct reference in objective tests, thus avoiding a plurality of simultaneously tolerable alternatives.

In oral examinations, the evaluation must be fully documented (video recording), and the examiners’ value judgment must be reasoned, curbing any kind of arbitrariness. Likewise, in essay exams, the grading must be reasoned. The perspective of efficiency must guide examination boards, rejecting questions that have no connection with the nature of the duties to be performed by the candidates. Incredible as it may seem, in present-day Brazil there is much room for improving public competitive exams, in order to reach fair, reasonable, rational and egalitarian criteria in choosing those who pass.