The Disciplinary Offense of Administrative Improbity: the Autonomous Application of Article 132, Item IV, of Law No. 8,112 of 1990

Abstract

This article examines the disciplinary offense of administrative improbity provided for in Article 132, item IV, of Law 8,112 of 1990, focusing on the possibility of its autonomous application within the federal civil service disciplinary regime. The objective is to assess whether the characterization of this offense necessarily requires correspondence with the acts of improbity defined in Law 8,429 of 1992, or whether the statutory provision contains sufficient normative content to independently support the imposition of the most severe disciplinary sanction. The study adopts a deductive method, based on bibliographical and documentary research, including
doctrinal, legislative, and case law analysis, particularly within the framework of Administrative Sanctioning Law. The article systematizes the main arguments for and against the autonomous application of Article 132, item IV, and examines them in light of constitutional guarantees such as due process of law, legality, legal certainty, and proportionality. It concludes that the interpretation of the provision must respect constitutional limits and contemporary sanctioning standards, in order to prevent disciplinary liability based on indeterminate
criteria and to preserve coherence between disciplinary law and administrative improbity law.