THE RIGHT TO ADMINISTRATIVE COURAGE: ETHICS, INNOVATION, AND LEGAL CERTAINTY IN CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Abstract

This research investigates the legal doctrine of error within contemporary Public Administration, proposing the "Right to Administrative Courage" as a vector to overcome the phenomenon of "administrative paralysis" (often referred to as apagão das canetas). The central problem lies in the tension between human fallibility and the duty of efficiency, exacerbated by a culture of retrospective control that criminalizes innovation. Employing a deductive and analytical methodology, grounded in the philosophy of "Ethical Experience" and in the "jurisprudential archaeology" of precedents from the Supreme Federal Court (STF), the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), the study demonstrates the consolidation of a regime of qualified subjective liability established by the LINDB. The conclusions indicate that legal certainty requires the application of the "average administrator" standard and a clear distinction between excusable error and gross negligence. It is argued that administrative courage is not recklessness, but a "grounded audacity" based on governance, integrity, and technical expertise, being an indispensable condition for the realization of fundamental rights and the modernization of the Democratic Rule of Law.