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The growing interest in contractualization in the Public Administration demonstrates an evolution in the way it is perceived, because although the Public Administration continues to be considered an authoritative administration, it is currently looking for alternative forms of administrative action to the typical authoritarian statute embodied in the administrative act, often resorting to a form of agreed administrative action: the administrative contract.In fact, despite the initial hesitations about admitting the figure of the contract in the field of Administrative Law, the possibility of the Public Administration binding itself through contracts dates back to ancient times.Nonetheless, the Public Administration has not relinquished its public powers of authority, because the pursuit of the public interest requires that, even if it is contractual, its actions be administrative. Thus, the current legal regime is characterized by the combination of the authority and supremacy of the Public Administration on the one hand and consensuality and pact on the other.
About the author
Marisa Vieira - Master's Degree in Solicitorship from the Porto Polytechnic School of Technology and Management.Patrícia Anjos Azevedo - PhD in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto.
