# Escape from Public Law The phenomenon by which governments — facing difficulty reforming the core public administration through general legislation — create new entities ([[State Owned Enterprises (SOEs)|state owned enterprises]], [[Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organization (Quango)|quangos]], etc) outside the standard public law framework to obtain operational flexibility. The new entity can hire, fire, contract, and manage differently from the rest of government. The rest of government does not change. The result is sometimes an **archipelago of islands of efficiency** surrounded by unreformed bureaucracy. --- ## Entries [[2026-02-19]]: ### Names and concepts by country/tradition #### Brazil **Fuga do direito público**: The best-known Brazilian formulation. When public law (estatuto dos servidores, licitação, controle formal) becomes too rigid to allow effective management, the state creates entities under private law or hybrid regimes — empresas públicas, fundações, organizações sociais, contratos de gestão — to escape those constraints. The critique is that it fragments the legal regime of the state without reforming it. #### Germany **Flucht ins Privatrecht**: ("flight into private law") A classic concept in German administrative law. The state uses private law legal forms (GmbH, AG, foundations) to escape public law obligations — procurement rules, civil service statute, administrative procedure. Extensively discussed in German Verwaltungsrechtslehre. The concern is democratic accountability: private law entities are less subject to parliamentary oversight and judicial review under administrative law.