by Posted 3/14/2023 3:28 PM / Updated 3/14/2023 7:37 PM
(credit: Lucas Braga/UFMG)
The Federal Court suspended, at the request of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), the result of a competition for the assistant professor of the Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution of the Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
The action took place when it was verified that the first position in the competition was the head of the Department of General Biology at UFMG during the selection process and that he acted in all phases of the formation of the selection process in which he participated. .
Prosecutor Adailton Ramos do Nascimento stated that the participation of the professor in a selection he has prepared violates the duty of equality of conditions required in disputes for public office, in addition to the other principles of public administration, such as ethics, impersonality, legality and equality. . He also pointed to a possible weakness in the control mechanisms at UFMG.
“Since administrative ethics is a broad concept that includes integrity, honesty, dignity and impartiality, it is clear that the teacher deliberately acted in gross conflict of interest, undermining the impartiality and fairness of the selection process,” MPF argued in the action. .
According to the law, the participation in a tender, directly or indirectly, of a public representative of the tendering body is prohibited. Therefore, the teacher’s participation in the competition is invalid.
Advantage over competitors
According to the MPF, the professor was appointed head of the department in February 2018. Since then, he has been directly involved in defining the criteria for the vacancy to be offered in the competition, such as the field of knowledge, the desired profile of the candidate and the questions for the evaluation and grade performance. Documents signed by him prove participation.
The tender notice was published in August 2019 and in November of the same year the then head of the department was dismissed from his position. Days later, he signed up for the same contest. In December 2022, the approved result awarded the professor the first position.
The professor had also applied for retirement and thus could collect the retired professor and assistant professor salaries.
Acknowledgment of the invalidity of the process
The Federal Court recognized the manifest invalidity of the public selection due to a violation, in particular, of impersonality, which justified the suspension of the selection process. “When the server is found to have interests other than strictly collective, there is an infringement of the public interest. Only the utter indifference of the civil servant has a clearly impersonal character. The administrative act cannot be subjected to subjectivity, intentions and personal preferences”, says an excerpt of the court decision.
The public civil action continues to be heard in the Federal Court in Minas Gerais. There is still an appeal against the preliminary ruling.
In a note, UFMG commented on the case, saying that, upon receiving questions from the MPF, it suspended the tender and is cooperating with the investigations. Look:
“The Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) informs that, upon being asked by the Public Ministry, it has suspended the competition for the assistant professor of the Department of Genetics, Ecology and Evolution of the Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) and UFMG has accepted all referrals from the Prosecutor’s Office and cooperates with the investigation of the complaint. As a public institution at the service of society, the University is guided by the fairness of its selection procedures and makes efforts to properly clarify the case.”
The report from the Estado de Minas requested the ICB’s Genetics, Ecology and Evolution Department but had not received any response by the time the article was published. The space remains open for the event of those mentioned in the exhibition.
