HETERO-IDENTIFICATION AND RACIAL QUOTAS AFTER LAW NO. 15,142/2025: LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES FOR PUBLIC SERVICE EXAMINATIONS

Abstract

This article analyzes the impacts of Law No. 15,142 on the quota policy in public exams (Brasil, 2025d), highlighting the expansion of the vacancy reservation to 30% and the inclusion of Indigenous and Quilombola peoples. Heteroidentification is problematized as an indispensable control mechanism to mitigate fraud and ensure the effectiveness of affirmative action. The objective is to investigate the institutional challenges for the standardization of procedures and the legal certainty of the commissions. Methodologically, bibliographic and documentary research is adopted, examining the new legislation, the Technical Notes of the Federal Public Defender's Office (DPU) (Brasil, 2024), and the Opinions of the Attorney General of the Union (AGU) (Brasil, 2025a). The results indicate that the validity of the contest depends on the strict adoption of the phenotypic criterion, grounded in the sociological concept of “prejudice of mark” (Nogueira, 2006), as well as the mandatory training of board members and the substantiated justification for rejections. Furthermore, administrative discretion in the implementation of “reparative notices” to compensate for historical deficits is discussed (Brasil, 2025a). It is concluded that the professionalization of heteroidentification does not constitute a mere bureaucratic formality, but the central guarantee of substantive equality and distributive justice in access to public offices.