No mundo ocidental, várias e importantes experiências históricas ensejaram o controle de constitucionalidade das leis e atos normativos. No Direito Constitucional Internacional Público, é usual a referência ao modelo inglês (supremacia do Parlamento), ao modelo americano ou judicial control (supremacia do judiciário), ao modelo francês, com seu Conselho Constitucional e ao modelo austríaco, de controle direto, inspirado por Hans Kelsen, em 1920, que espalhou-se pela Europa (Cortes Constitucionais). Após o exame dessas experiências, o artigo trata do modelo misto brasileiro (controles difuso e concentrado), haurido das experiências americana e europeia, ligando-o ao controle das leis e atos normativos tributários, com base na teoria dos tributos vinculados e não vinculados a atuações do Estado e arrimado no princípio da capacidade contributiva, no caso dos impostos, e no custo da atuação estatal, para definir as bases de cálculo das taxas e das contribuições de melhoria, de intervenção, corporativas e sociais previdenciárias.
In the Western world, several important historical experiences gave rise to judicial review. Four models are commonly highlighted in comparative public law: the English model, associated with the idea of legislative supremacy; the U.S. model, associated with the idea of judicial supremacy; the French model and its Constitutional Council; and, finally, the Austrian model of direct control/review with Constitutional Courts in a leading role, which was deeply moved by the thoughts and work of Hans Kelsen and had spread out to many other European countries since the 1920s. After examining these experiences, this paper analyses the Brazilian mixed model of judicial review and its mixed U.S. and European influences, and also how it relates to tax laws and administrative acts, bearing in mind important normative Brazilian Tax Law classifications and principles. The latter includes general taxes (scots or imposts), characterized by taxable events related to the taxpayers’ ability to pay; and specific taxes (inspection taxes, fees, betterment taxes, social contribution taxes, pension taxes and union taxes), defined by taxable events related to State’s actions and mainly subject not to the principle of the ability to pay, but the principle of the cost of the State action.
