People Governance in the Judiciary: an essay on conceptual precision and institutional maturity.

Abstract

This essay critically examines the terms people governance, governance and people management, and governance in people management within Public Administration, with emphasis on the Brazilian Judiciary. It starts from the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a normative backdrop that has progressively reshaped how public organizations understand the strategic role of human capital, and argues that these three terms, although often used interchangeably, carry distinct conceptual and organizational implications that affect the delimitation of responsibilities, the segregation of duties, and institutional control mechanisms. The general objective is to analyze the conceptual distinctions between governance and people management and to identify their effects on organizational structure and on the mechanisms of supervision and administrative execution. Methodologically, this is a qualitative theoretical essay based on bibliographic review, documentary analysis, and critical reflection on institutional regulations and frameworks related to public governance and people management. The study draws on documents issued by the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), the National Council of Justice (CNJ), and the Federal Justice Council (CJF), as well as on authors who discuss public governance, judicial governance, public policy implementation, and public value generation. The findings indicate that people governance should be understood as a strategic dimension responsible for directing, supervising, and controlling people management, distinct from the operational activities performed by administrative human resources units. The incorporation of the SDGs into the iESGo-TCU further broadens the understanding of people governance by connecting it to contemporary agendas of sustainability, diversity, inclusion, integrity, and public value generation.