The Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) decided this Wednesday (7) that gifts received during the terms of office of presidents of the Republic cannot be considered public goods.
Based on the decision, the court rejected a request made by an opposition parliamentarian to force President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to return the watch he received as a gift in 2005 from the then French president, Jacques Chirac, due to the celebration of the Year of Brazil in France.
For most of the court’s ministers, there is no specific law to regulate the matter. Therefore, the TCU cannot order the return of the watch to the public collection of the Presidency of the Republic.
The decision was based on the vote of Minister Jorge Oliveira. For the minister, there is no legal definition regarding gifts received from foreign authorities during institutional trips.
“External control, in the absence of a specific law, cannot create obligations that the law did not create. We are faced with a limitation of a formal nature, which cannot be overcome,” he argued.
The court decided that there is no precise characterization to classify the gifts as goods of a very personal nature or goods with a high market value to determine their return.
