A ATUAÇÃO DO MINISTÉRIO PÚBLICO NA DEFESA DA CONCORRÊNCIA BRASILEIRA

Abstract

Contextualization. The Public Prosecution Office’s role in antitrust enforcement in Brazil has become central with the 1988 Federal Constitution, which has established competition as a public and collective value. The relevance of the Public Prosecution Office’s assignments is evidenced by the variety of its procedures, that involve all three main axes of Brazilian antitrust policy (administrative, civil and criminal). Object. This article aims to demonstrate, through the exposition of the Public Prosecution Office’s activities and through the analysis of recent precedents, that as much as the complexity of the Public Prosecution Office’s proceedings indicate its centrality in competition defense, it also has been arising administrative and judicial debates regarding possible limits, divergent positions and new strategies of its activities. Method. The article was structured through the exposition of the Public Prosecution Office’s activities and through the analysis of recent precedents. Results. The results indicate the Public Prosecution Office’s centrality in competition defense, as well as highlight administrative and judicial debates regarding possible limits, divergent positions and new strategies of its activities. Conclusions. The centrality of the Public Prosecution Office’s role in antitrust enforcement in Brazil is notable and it is necessary to constantly revisit its strategies considering the Constitution’s democratic project for national economic development.