KHD
2914
1946
CONSTITUTIO
STATES
OF BRAZIL
7 288^40
Together with the
Accompanying Transitory Provisions
\m
AMERICAN BRAZILIAN ASSOCIATION, INC
10 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA
NEW YORK 10, N. Y.
THE CONSTITUTION OF BRAZIL
SEPTEMBER 24, 1946
We, the representatives of the Brazilian people, assembled under the protection of God, in
Constituent Assembly to organize a democratic regime, decree and promulgate the following.
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL
rifle One
THE FEDERAL ORGANIZATION
Chapter I
Preliminary Provisions
Art. 1 — The United States of Brazil maintain, under the
representative system, the Federation and the Republic.
All power emanates from the people and shall be exer-
cised in its name.
§ 1. The Union includes, in addition to the States, the
Federal District and the Territories,
§ 2. The Federal District is the capital of the Union.
Art. 2 — The States may merge with one another, sub-
divide, or partition in order to annex themselves to others
or to form new States, by vote of the respective legislative
assemblies, plebescite of the populations directly concerned
and approval of the National Congress.
Art. 3 — The Territories may, by special law, constitute
themselves into States, subdivide into new Territories or
restore themselves as part of the States from which they
were separated.
Art. 4 — Brazil shall resort to war only in case of non-
applicability or failure of resort to arbitration or pacific
means of solution of the conflict, regulated by any inter-
national security organization in which it may participate;
and in no case shall it embark on a war of conquest,
directly or indirectly, alone or in alliance with another
State.
Art, 5 — The Union shall have power:
I — to maintain relations with foreign States and to make
treaties and conventions with them;
II — to declare war and make peace;
III — to decree, extend and suspend state of siege;
IV — to organize the armed forces, the security of the
frontiers and the external defense;
V — to permit foreign forces to pass through national
territory or, for reasons of war, to remain therein tem-
porarily;
VI — to authorize the production and control the commerce
of war material;
VII — to superintend, throughout the national territory,
the services of maritime, air and frontier police;
VIII — to coin and issue money and establish banks of
issue;
IX — to control the operations of establishments of credit,
capitalization and of insurance;
X — to establish the national plan of transport;
XI — to maintain the postal service and the national air
mail;
XII — to develop, directly or through authorization or con-
cession, the services of telegraphs, radio communication,
radio broadcasting, interstate and international telephones,
air navigation, and railways connecting seaports and na-
tional frontiers or crossing the boundaries of a State;
XIII — to organize permanent defense against the effects
of drought, rural endemic diseases and floods;
XIV — to grant amnesty;
XV — to legislate upon:
a) — civil, commercial, penal, processual, electoral, aero-
nautical and labor law;
b) — general norms of law with respect to finance;
insurance and social security; defense and protection of
health; and penitentiary system;
c) — production and consumption;
— policies and bases of national education;
e) — public registries and commercial boards;
f) — organization, instruction, justice and guaranties of
the military police and general conditions of their utilization
by the Federal Government in cases of mobilization or of
war;
g) — expropriation;
h) — civil and military requisitions in time of war;
i) — system of ports and of coastwise navigation;
j ) — interstate traffic;
k) — foreign and interstate commerce; institutions of
credit, exchange and transfer of values abroad;
1) — subsoil wealth, mining, metallurgy, waters, electric
energy, forests, hunting and fishing;
m) — monetary and standard measures systems, title and
guarantee of metals;
n) — naturalization, entry, extradition and expulsion of
foreigners;
o) — emigration and immigration;
p) — conditions of capacity for the exercise of the
technical, scientific and liberal professions;
q) — use of the national symbols;
r) — incorporation of aborigines into the national com-
munity.
Art. 6 — The federal power to legislate upon the matters
of Art. 5, Number XV, letters b, c, d, f, h, j, 1, o, and r
does not exclude supplementary or complementary state
legislation.
Art. 7 — The Federal Government shall not intervene in
the States except:
I — to maintain the national integrity;
II — to repel foreign invasion or that of one State in
another;
III — to suppress civil war;
IV — to guarantee the free exercise of any of the state
powers;
V — to insure the execution of judicial orders or decisions;
VI — to reorganize the finances of any State which,
without reasons of force majeure, may suspend for more
than two consecutive years services on its funded external
debt;
VII — to assure the observance of the following principles :
a) — representative republican form;
b) — independence and harmony of powers;
1
c) — temporality of the elective functions, the duration
of these latter being limited to that of the corresponding
federal functions;
d) — prohibition of reelection of governors and mayors
for the period immediately following;
e) — municipal autonomy;
f) — rendering of administrative accounts;
g) — guaranties of judicial power.
Art. 8. — Intervention shall be decreed by federal law in
the cases of Numbers VI and VII of the preceding article.
Sole Paragraph — In the case of No. 7, the act alleged
to be unconstitutional shall be submitted by the Attorney
General of the Republic to examination by the Federal
Supreme Court, and, if the latter so declares the intervention
shall be decreed.
Art. 9 — The President of the Republic shall have power
to decree intervention in the cases of Numbers I to V of
Article 7.
§ 1. Issuance of decree shall be dependent upon:
I — In the case of Number V, the requisition of the
Federal Supreme Court; or if the order or decision should
be of electoral justice, the requisition of the Electoral
Supreme Court.
II — In the case of Number IV, the request of the Legis-
lative Power or of the Executive, coacted or impeded, or
the requisition of the Federal Supreme Court if the co-
action should be exercised against the ludicial Power.
§ 2. In the second case provided for by Article 7, Num-
ber II, the intervention shall be decreed only in the invad-
ing State.
Art. 10 — In cases other than requisition of the Federal
Supreme Court or the Electoral Supreme Court, the Presi-
dent of the Republic shall decree the intervention and shall
submit it, without prejudice to its immediate execution to the
approval of the National Congress, which if not in session,
shall be convened extraordinarily for this purpose.
Art. 11 — The law or decree of intervention shall fix:
its scope, its duration and the conditions under which it is
to be executed.
Art. 12 — The President of the Republic shall have power
to make the intervention effective and if necessary, to
appoint the Interventor.
Art. 13 — In the cases enumerated in Article 7, Number
VII, and with observance of the provisions of Article 8,
Sole Paragraph, the National Congress shall limit itself to
suspend the execution of the act alleged to be unconstitu-
tional, if this measure be sufficient for the reestablishment
of normality in the State.
Art. 14 — Upon cessation of the motives which may have
determined the intervention, the state authorities removed
in consequence thereof shall return to the exercise of their
offices.
Art. 15 — The Union shall have power to decree taxes
upon:
I '■ — importation of merchandise of foreign origin;
II — consumption of merchandise;
III — production, commerce, distribution and consumption,
as well as importation and exportation of liquid or gaseous
lubricants and fuels of whatever origin or nature, this
regime being extended insofar as it may be applicable to
the minerals of the country and to electric energy;
IV — income and profits of whatever nature;
V — transfer of funds abroad;
VI — the business of its own economy, acts and instru-
ments regulated by federal law.
§ 1. Articles classified by law as the minimum indispen-
sable to housing, clothing, nourishment and medical treat-
ment of persons of limited economic capacity are exempt
from consumption tax.
§ 2. The taxation dealt with in Item III shall have the
form of a single tax, which shall fall upon each kind of
product. Of the resulting revenue, 60%, as minimum, shall
be delivered to the States, to the Federal District and to the
municipalities in proportion to their area, population, con-
sumption and production, according to the terms and for the
purposes set forth in federal law.
§ 3. The Union may tax the income from obligations of the
state or municipal public debt and the profits of agents of
States and municipalities, but it cannot do so to an extent
greater than fixed for its own obligations and for the profits
of its own agents.
§ 4. The Union shall deliver to the municipalities, except
those of the capitals, 10% of the total it may collect of the
tax dealt with in Number IV, with distribution being made
in equal parts and at least half of the amount applied in
benefits of a rural nature.
§ 5. The juridical acts to which the Union, the States or
the municipalities may be parties, or the instruments to
which these acts may be reduced, or again, those included
in the tax qualifications established by Arts. 19 and 29, do
not come under the provisions of Item VI.
§ 6. In the imminence or in case of foreign war, it is
lawful for the Union to decree extraordinary taxes, which
shall not be distributed in the manner of Article 21, and shall
be eliminated gradually, within five years, counted from the
date of the signing of peace.
Art. 16 — The Union shall, moreover, have power to
decree the taxes provided for in Article 19 which are to be
collected by the Territories.
/^jt. 17 — The Union is forbidden to decree taxes which
are not uniform throughout the national territory or which
may result in distinction or preference for one port or
another, to the detriment of another of any other State.
Art. 18 — Every State shall govern itself by the Con-
stitution and by the laws it may adopt, with observance of
the principles established in this Constitution.
§ 1. To the States are reserved all powers which are not
implicitly or explicitly forbidden to them by this Constitu-
tion.
§ 2. The States shall provide for the needs of their gov-
ernment and the administration thereof; but in case of public
calamity, it being incumbent on the Union to lend them aid.
§ 3. By agreement with the Union, the States may charge
federal officials with the execution of state laws and serv-
ices or of acts and decisions of their ^ authorities; and,
reciprocally, the Union may, in matters of its jurisdiction,
entrust analagous duties to state officials, providing the
necessary expenses.
Art. 19 — The States shall have power to decree taxes
upon:
I — territorial property, except urban;
II — transfer of property by reason of death;
III — transfer of real property between the living and its
incorporation into the capital of legal entities;
IV — sales and consignments effected by traders and
producers, including industrialists, with exemption, howeyeri
of the first operation of the small producer, as defined by
state law;
V — exportation of merchandise of its production abroad,
up to the maximum of 5% ad valorem, any additional
(taxes) being prohibited;
VI — acts regulated by state law, those of its judicial
service and the business of its economy.
§ 1. The tax on territorial holdings shall not be incident
upon farms having an area not exceeding twenty hectares
when cultivated by the proprietor, alone or with his family,
and who does not own any other property.
2
§ 2. The taxes upon the transfer of tangible property (II
and III) belong to the state in whose territory these may
be situated.
§ 3. The tax upon transfer by reason of death, of intan«
gible property, including securities and credits, belongs
to the State in whose territory the values of the inheritance
may be liguidated or transferred to the heirs, even though
the succession may have opened abroad.
§ 4. The States may not tax securities of the public debt
issued by other juridical persons of national public right
to an extent greater than that established for their own
obligations.
§ 5. The tax on sales and consignments shall be uniform,
without distinction as to origin or destination.
§ 6. In exceptional cases, the Federal Senate may auth-
orize the increase for a fixed time of the tax upon exportation
up to a maximum of 10% ad valorem.
Art. 20 — When the state collection of taxes, except that
of the export tax, shall exceed in any municipality other
than that of the capital, the total of local revenues of
whatever nature, the States shall return (to such municipal-
ity) annually, 30% of the excess collected.
Art. 21 — The Union and the States may decree other
taxes in addition to those attributed to them by this Con-
stitution, but a federal tax shall exclude an identical state
tax. The States shall make collection of such taxes, and, as
this is effected, shall deliver 20% of the proceeds to the
Union and 40% to the municipalities where the collection
has been effected.
Art. 22 — The financial administration, especially the exe-
cution of the budget, shall be supervised in the Union by
the National Congress, with the aid of the Tribunal of
Accounts, and in the States and municipalties according
to the manner established in their Constitutions.
Sole Paragraph — In the preparation of the budget the
provisions of Articles 73 to 75 shall be observed.
Art. 23 — The States shall not intervene in the municipal-
ities, except in order to regularize their finances, when:
a) — there shall occur lack of punctuality in the service
of a loan guaranteed by the State;
b) — they fail to pay, for two consecutive years, thefr
funded debt.
Art. 24 — The State is permitted to create an organ for
technical assistance to municipalities.
Art. 25 — The administrative and judicial organization of
the Federal District and of the Territories shall be governed
by federal law with observance of the provisions of Article
124.
Art. 26 — The Federal District shall be administered by a
Mayor appointed by the President of the Republic, and a
Chamber elected by the people, with legislative functions.
§ 1. The appointment shall be made after the Federal
Senate has given its consent to the name proposed by the
President of the Republic.
§ 2. The Mayor shall be dismissible at will.
§ 3. The Judges of the Tribunal of Justice shall receive
compensation not inferior to the greatest remuneration of
the magistrates of equal rank in the States.
§ 4. The same taxes attributed by this Constitution to
the States and to the municipalities shall belong to the
Federal District.
Art. 27 — The Union, the States, the Federal District and
the municipalities are forbidden to establish limitations
upon traffic of whatever nature by means of interstate or
intermunicipal taxes, except for the collection of tolls or
of taxes destined exclusively for the repayment of expenses
incurred for the construction and for the maintenance and
improvement of roads.
Art. 28 — The autonomy of municipalities shall be as-
sured:
I — by the election of the Mayors and of the Aldermen of
the Municipal Chamber;
II — by self -administration in all matters concerning its
own interest and, especially:
a) — the determination and collection of taxes within its
jurisdiction and the application of its income;
b) — the organization of their local public services.
§ 1. The Mayors of the capitals and those of the munici-
palities wherever there should be natural hydro-mineral
resorts, when improved by the State or by the Union may
be appointed by the Governors of the States or of the
Territories.
§ 2. The Mayors of such municipalities as federal law, at
the indication of the National Security Council, may de-
clare as military bases or ports of exceptional importance
for the external defense of the Country, shall be appointed
by the Governors of the States or of the Territories.
Art. 29 — In addition to the revenue which is attributed
to them by virtue of Paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 15 and
of the taxes which in whole or in part may be transferred
to them by the State, the following taxes shall belong ex-
clusively to the municipalities:
I — urban land and buildings;
II — license;
III — industries and professions;
IV — public diversions;
V — acts of their economy or matters belonging to their
particular sphere.
Art. 30 — The Union, the States, the Federal District and
the municipalities shall have power to collect:
I — tax on improvements when there shall be an increase
in value of real property, as a consequence of public works;
II — taxes;
III — any other revenues which may arise out of the
exercise of their attributes and of the utilization of their
properties and services.
Sole Paragraph — The tax on improvements cannot be
demanded in amount greater than the expense realized or
the increase in value which may accrue to the real property
benefited by the work.
Art. 31 — The Union, the States, the Municipalities and the
Federal District are forbidden:
I — to create distinctions between Brazilians or prefer-
ences favoring any States or municipalities as against any
others;
II — to establish, subsidize or embarrass the exercise of
religious sects;
III — to have relations of alliance or dependence with any
sect or church, without prejudice to reciprocal collabora-
tion in furtherance of the collective interest;
IV — to refuse to honor public documents;
V — to levy tax upon :
a) — Property, revenues and services of one another,
without prejudice, however, to the taxation of public serv-
ices granted under concession with observance of the pro-
visions of the sole paragraph of this article;
b) — temples of any sect, property and services of
political parties, educational institutions, and social welfare
(institutions), provided that their income is applied entirely
within the country for the proper purposes;
c) — paper destined exclusively for the printing of news-
papers, periodicals and books.
Sole Paragraph — Public services granted under conces-
sion do not enjoy tax exemption, except when so determined
by the competent power or when the Union may institute
such exemption in a special law, with respect to its own
services, having in view the common interest.
3
Art. 32 The States, the Federal District, and the
municipalities may not establish any tax differential be-
tween properties of any nature by reason of their origin.
Art. 33 — The States and the municipalities are prohibited
to contract external loans without previous authorization
of the Federal Senate.
Art. 34 — Included in the property of the Union are :
I — lakes and water courses in territory of its domain
or which border on more than one State, serve as bound-
aries with other countries or extend to foreign territory; as
well as river and lake islands in the boundary zones with
other countries.
II — the portion of ceded land which may be indispen-
sable for the defense of frontiers, fortifications, military con-
struction, and railways.
Art. 35 — Among the properties of the state domain are
included lakes and rivers in territory of the same (State)
domain and those which have their source and mouth
within the frontiers of the State.
Art. 36 — The powers of the Union are Legislative, the
Executive and the Judicial independent and harmonious
among themselves.
§ 1. The citizen invested with the function of one of these
shall not exercise the function of another, except for the
exceptions set forth in this Constitution.
§ 2. It is forbidden for any of the Powers to delegate
their attributes.
Chapter II
The Legislative Power
SECTION I
Preliminary Provisions
Art. 37 — The Legislative Power is exercised by the Na-
tional Congress, which is composed of the Chamber of
Deputies and the Federal Senate.
Art. 38 — The election for deputies and senators shall
be held simultaneously throughout the country.
Sole Paragraph — The conditions of eligibility for the Na-
tional Congress are:
I — to be a Brazilian as defined in Art. 129, Nos. I and II;
II — to be in full enjoyment of political rights;
III — for the Chamber of Deputies, to be more than twenty-
one years old;
IV — for the Federal Senate, to be more than thirty-five
years old.
Art. 39 — The National Congress shall meet hi the Capi-
tal of the Republic, on the 15th of March each year, and
shall function until the 15th of December.
Sole Paragraph — The National Congress may be con-
voked extraordinarily only by the President of the Republic
or by initiative of one third of one of the Chambers.
Art. 40 — Each Chamber shall have power to provide
its Internal Regulation, for its own organization and police
and for the creation and fulfillment of offices.
Sole Paragraph — In the selection of committees, pro-
portional representation of the national parties forming part
of the respective Chamber shall be assured as far as
possible.
Art. 41 — The Chamber of Deputies and the Federal
Senate, under the direction of the administration of the
latter, shall meet in joint session in order to:
I — inaugurate the legislative session;
II — elaborate common regulations;
III — receive the oath of the President and of the Vice
President of the Republic;
IV — deliberate upon veto.
Art. 42 — In each Chamber, except for constitutional
provision to the contrary, resolutions shall be taken by
majority of votes, with an absolute majority of their mem-
bers present.
Art. 43 — The vote shall be secret in the elections and
in the cases established by Arts. 45. paragraph 2; 63, No. I;
66, No. VIII; 70, paragraph 3; 211 and 213.
Art. 44 — The deputies and senators are inviolable in
the exercise of their mandate for their opinions, words and
votes.
Art. 45 — From the time of issuing their diplomas until
the inauguration of the subsequent legislature, the members
of the National Congress may not be arrested, except in
case of in flagrante delicto in an unbailable crime, nor
may they be prosecuted criminally, without previous per-
mission of their Chamber.
§ 1. In the case of in flagrante delicto of an unbailable
crime, notice of arrest shall be sent within forty-eight hours
to the respective Chamber in order that it may decide upon
the imprisonment and authorize the framing of the indict-
ment.
§ 2. The Chamber concerned shall deliberate by vote of
the majority of its members.
Art. 46 — Deputies and Senators, whether civilian or mili-
tary, may not be incorporated into the armed forces except
in time of war and by permission of their Chamber, being
thereafter, subject to military legislation.
Art. 47 - — Deputies and Senators shall receive, annually,
an equal subsidy and shall have equal allowances for
expenses.
§ 1. The subsidy shall be divided in two parts: one fixed,
which shall be paid in the course of the year, and the
other variable, corresponding to their attendance.
§ 2. The allowance for expenses and subsidy shall be
fixed at the end of each legislature.
Art. 48 — Deputies or Senators may not:
I — from and after issuance of the diploma :
a) — make a contract with a juridical person of public
law, autarchic entities or societies of mixed economy, except
when the contract adheres to uniform standards;
b) — accept or exercise remunerated commission or em-
ployment from a juridical person of public law, autarchic
entities, societies of mixed economies or private firms hold-
ing concessions for public service.
II — from and after taking office:
a) — enter into any contract with an internal public au-
thority, autarchic entity or enterprise of mixed economy,
except when the contract adheres to uniform standards;
b) — occupy public office from which he may he dis-
missed at will;
c) — exercise another legislative mandate, whether fed-
eral, state or municipal;
d) — support a cause against a juridical person of public
law.
§ 1. Infractions of the provisions of this article, as well
as absence without permission from the sessions for more
than six consecutive months shall result in loss of the
mandate, declared by the Chamber at which the deputy
or senator may belong, upon the initiative of any of its
4
members or documented representation by a political party
or by the Attorney General of the Republic.
§ 2. The deputy or senator whose action may be held
to be incompatible with the decorum of the Chamber to
which he belongs, by a vote of two-thirds of its members,
shall likewise lose his mandate.
Art. 49 — It is permissible for deputies or senators, with
previous permission of the Chamber to which they belong,
to carry out diplomatic missions of transitory character, and
to participate in congresses, conferences and cultural mis-
sions abroad.
Art. 50 — During the period of his mandate, a public
officer shall be separated from the functions of his office,
with time of service being counted in his favor merely for
promotion by seniority and retirement.
Art. 51 — A deputy or senator invested with the function
of minister of State, federal interventor or secretary of
State, shall not lose his mandate.
Art. 52 — In the case of the preceding article and in the
case of leave, if permitted by the Internal Regulations, or
(in case of) vacancy in the office of deputy or senator,
the respective alternate shall be called.
Sole Paragraph — If there should be no alternate to fill
the vacancy, the president of the Chamber concerned shall
communicate the fact to the Superior Electoral Tribunal
to arrange for the election, except if there should remain
less than nine months to the end of the term. The deputy or
senator elected to the vacancy shall exercise the mandate
for the remaining time.
Art. 53 — The Chamber of Deputies and the Federal
Senate shall create commissions of inquiry upon a given
matter, whenever one-third of their members shall so
request.
Sole Paragraph — In the organization of these committees,
the criterion established in the Sole Paragraph of Article
40 shall be observed.
Art. 54 — The ministers of State are obliged to appear
before the Chamber of Deputies or Federal Senate, or any
of their committees, when either Chamber shall call him
to personally give information respecting matters previously
determined.
Sole Paragraph — Failure to appear, without justification,
shall constitute a crime of responsibility.
Art. 55 — The Chamber of Deputies and the Federal
Senate, as well as their committees, shall designate day
and hour to hear any minister of State who may desire to
furnish them with explanations, or request of them legisla-
tive measures.
SECTION II
The Chamber of Deputies
Art. 56 — The Chamber of Deputies is composed of repre-
sentatives of the people, elected according to the system
of proportional representation by the States, by the Federal
District and by the Territories.
Art. 57 — Each legislature shall last four years.
Art. 58 — The number of deputies shall be fixed by law
in a proportion not to exceed one for each one hundred and
fifty thousand inhabitants, up to twenty deputies, and be-
yond this limit one for each two hundred and fifty thousand
inhabitants.
§ 1. Each Territory shall have one deputy and seven
deputies shall be the minimum number for each State and
for the Federal District.
§ 2. The representation already fixed may not be re-
duced.
Art. 59 — The Chamber of Deputies shall have exclusive
power :
I — to declare founded or unfounded, by vote of an
absolute majority of its members, accusations against the
President of the Republic under the terms of Article 88, and
against the ministers of State in crimes connected with those
of the President of the Republic;
II — to take the initiative in demanding accounts from
the President of the Republic by designation of a special
committee, when they are not presented to the National Con-
gress within sixty days after the opening of the legislative
session.
SECTION III
The Federal Senate
Art. 60 — The Federal Senate is composed of representa-
tives of the States and of the Federal District, elected ac-
cording to the majority principle.
§ 1. Each State, as well as the Federal District, shall
elect three senators.
§ 2. The senatorial mandate shall be for eight years.
§ 3. The representation of each State and of the Federal
District shall be renewed every four years, alternately,
one-third and two-thirds at a time.
§ 4. The senator's alternate elected with him shall replace
or succeed him under the terms of Article 52.
Art. 61 — The Vice President of the Republic shall
exercise the functions of president of the Federal Senate
where he shall only have the deciding vote.
Art. 62 — The Federal Senate shall have exclusive power:
I — to judge the President of the Republic in respect of
crimes for which he is responsible and the Ministers of State
who may be involved, along with the former, in crimes of
the same nature.
II — to prosecute and judge the Ministers of the Federal
Supreme Court and the Attorney General of the Republic,
in respect of crimes for which they are responsible.
§ 1. When functioning as a Tribunal of Justice, the Fed-
eral Senate shall be presided over by the President of the
Federal Supreme Court.
§ 2. The Federal Senate shall only pronounce condemna-
tory sentence by the vote of two-thirds of its members.
§ 3. The Federal Senate may not impose any penalties
other than loss of office and prohibition against the exercise
of another without prejudice to the action of ordinary
justice.
Art. 63 — The Federal Senate shall likewise have exclu-
sive power:
I — to approve, by secret vote, the appointment of magis-
trates in the cases established by the Constitution, and like-
wise the appointment of the Attorney General of the Re-
public, of the Minister of the Tribunal of Accounts, of the
Mayor of the Federal District, of the members of the Na-
tional Economic Council and of the chiefs of diplomatic
mission of permanent character.
II — to authorize foreign loans of States, of the Federal
District and of the municipalities.
Art. 64 — It shall be incumbent upon the Federal Senate
to suspend the execution, wholly or in part, of any law
or decree declared unconstitutional by final decision of the
Federal Supreme Court.
SECTION IV
Attributes of the Legislative Power
Art. 65 — The National Congress shall have power, with
the approval of the President of the Republic:
I — to vote the budget;
II — to vote the taxes belonging to the Union and to
regulate the collection and distribution of its revenues;
III — to make provisions concerning the federal public
debt and the means of its payment;
5
IV — to create and abolish lederal public posts, and fix
the salaries attached thereto, in all cases by special law;
V — to vote the law of establishment of armed forces
for peacetime;
VI — to authorize opening of credits, credit operations,
and issues of legal tender currency;
VII — to transfer temporarily the seat of the Federal
Government;
VIII — to resolve questions concerning boundaries of the
national territory;
IX — to legislate regarding property of the federal do-
main, and all matters of the competence of the Union, the
provisions of the following article being respected.
Art. 66 — The National Congress shall have exclusive
power :
I — to give final decision respecting treaties and con-
ventions celebrated with foreign States by the President
of the Republic;
II — to authorize the President of the Republic to declare
war and make peace;
III — to authorize the President of the Republic to permit
foreign forces to pass through the national territory or, by
reason of war, to remain therein temporarily;
IV — to approve or suspend federal intervention when
decreed by the President of the Republic;
V — to grant amnesty;
VI — to approve the resolutions of State legislative as-
semblies regarding merger, sub-division or partitioning of
the States;
VII — to authorize the President and the Vice President
of the Republic to absent themselves from the Country;
VIII — to judge the accounts of the President of the Re-
public;
IX — to fix the allowance of expenses and the subsidy
of the members of the National Congress, as well as those
of the President and Vice President of the Republic;
X — to temporarily move its seat.
SECTION V •
Laws
Art. 67 — The initiative of laws, excepting the cases of
exclusive power, shall belong to the President of the Re-
public and to any member or committee of the Chamber
of Deputies or of the Federal Senate.
§ 1. The initiative of the law establishing the armed
forces and of all laws regarding financial matters apper-
tains to the Chamber of Deputies and to the President of
the Republic.
§ 2. Excepting the powers of the Chamber of Deputies
and of the Federal Senate, as well as of the federal courts,
in matters concerning their respective administrative serv-
ices, the President of the Republic shall have exclusive
power of initiative of laws which create positions in exist-
ing services, increase salaries, or modify in the course of
each legislature the law of establishment of the armed
forces.
§ 3. Discussion of bills initiated by the President of the
Republic shall begin in the Chamber of Deputies.
Art. 68 — A bill adopted in one of the Chambers shall
be reviewed by the other, which, approving it, shall send
it for approval or promulgation as prescribed by Arts. 70
and 71.
Sole Paragraph — The revision shall be discussed and
voted upon in a single session.
Art. 69 — If a bill of one Chamber is amended in the
other, it shall return to the first for pronouncement regard-
ing the modification and approval or disapproval.
Sole Paragraph — The bill shall be sent for approval in
the terms (form) in which it was finally voted.
Art. 70 — In the case of Article 65, the Chamber, where
the voting of a bill is concluded shall, send it to the Presi-
dent of the Republic who, acquiescing, shall approve it.
§ 1. If the President of the Republic shall judge the bill,
in whole or in part, unconstitutional or contrary to the na-
tional interests, he may veto same, totally or partially,
within ten business days, counted from that on which he
receives it, and he shall inform, within the same period,
the President of the Senate, the reasons for the veto. If the
veto is extended after the legislative session is over, the
President of the Republic shall publish the veto.
§ 2. After the lapse of ten days, the silence of the
President of the Republic shall be equivalent to approval.
§ 3. When the veto is communicated to the President of
the Senate, he shall convoke the two Chambers to inform
them in joint session, arid if the vetoed bill obtain the vote
of two-thirds of the representatives present, it shall be con-
sidered approved. In this case, the bill shall be sent to the
President of the Republic for promulgation.
§ 4. If the law should not be promulgated within forty-
eight hours by the President of the Republic, in the cases
of paragraphs 2 and 3, the President of the Senate shall
promulgate it; but if the latter should not do so within the
same period of time, the Vice President of the Senate shall
promulgate it.
Art. 71 — In the cases of Article 66, the elaboration of
the law shall be considered closed with the final voting,
and it shall be promulgated by the President of the Senate.
Art. 72 — Bills which are rejected or not approved may
be renewed only in the same legislative session, by proposal
of an absolute majority of the members of either of the
Chambers.
SECTION VI
The Budget
Art. 73 — The budget shall be one and it shall be obli-
gatory to include in it all the receipts and the allotments
of funds, and, discriminating in the expenses all the allot-
ments necessary for the payment of all the public services.
§ 1. The budget law shall not contain any provision
foreign to the provision of the receipts and the fixing of
the expenses for services previously created. This prohibi-
tion shall not include:
I — authorization for opening of supplementary credits
and credit operations in anticipation of receipts;
II — application of balances and manner of covering
deficits.
§ 2. Budgeting of expenses shall be divided into two
parts: one of them fixed, which may not be altered except
by virtue of previous law; the other variable, which shall
be subject to strict specialization.
j^rt. 74 — If the budget shall not have been sent for
approval by November 30, the one which was in effect
shall be extended for the following fiscal year.
Art. 75 — The transfer of budget items, and the granting
of unlimited credits, and the opening of special credits
without legislative authorization are prohibited.
Sole Paragraph — The opening of extraordinary credits
shall be admitted only for urgent or unforeseen necessity,
in case of war, internal commotion or public calamity.
Art. 76 — The Tribunal of Accounts shall have its seat
in the Capital of the Republic and jurisdiction throughout
the national territory.
§ 1. The Ministers of the Tribunal of Accounts shall be
appointed by the President of the Republic after approval
of the selection by the Federal Senate and shall have the
same rights, guarantees, prerogatives and remuneration as
the judges of the Federal Courts of Appeals.
§ 2. The Tribunal of Accounts shall exercise, in matters
concerning it, the same attributes as the judicirrl tribunals
set forth in Article 97, and shall likewise have its own staff
cs its personnel.
Art. 77 — The Tribunal of Accounts shall have power:
I — to follow and control directly, or through delegations
created by law, the execution of the budget;
II — to judge the accounts of those responsible for public
funds and other property, as well as the accounts of the
administrators of autarchic entities;
III — to judge the legality of contracts, retirements, re-
movals and pensions.
§ 1. Contracts which in any wise shall affect receipts
or expenditures shall be considered complete only after they
have been registered by the Tribunal. Refusal of registry
shall suspend the execution of the contract until the National
Congress shall issue pronouncement.
§ 2. Any act of public administration which may result
in an obligation of payment by the National Treasury or
for its account, shall be subject to registry in the Tribunal
of Accounts, either before or afterwards, as the law may
determine.
§ 3. In any case, the refusal of registry for lack of credit
balance or for charge to an improper credit, shall have
prohibitive character. When the refusal shall have other
basis, the expenditure may be made after an order by the
President of the Republic, registry with reservation by the
Tribunal of Accounts and appeal ex-officio to the National
Congress.
§ 4,, The Tribunal of Accounts shall give its prior opinion,
within a period of sixty days, upon the accounts which the
President of the Republic is to render annually to the
National Congress. If these are not sent within the period
of the law, it shall communicate the fact to the National
Congress for the purposes of law, presenting to it in either
case, a detailed report of the financial and fiscal year
terminated.
Chapter III
The Executive Power
SECTION I
The President and the Vice President of the Republic
Art. 78 — The Executive Power is exercised by the Presi-
dent of the Republic.
Art. 79 — The President shall be replaced, in case of im-
pediment and succeeded, in case of vacancy in office, by
the Vice President of the Republic.
§ 1. In case of impediment or vacancy in office of the
President and of the Vice President of the Republic, the
President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Vice President of
the Federal Senate and the President of the Federal Supreme
Court shall be successively called to the exercise of the
presidency.
§ 2. In case of vacancy in office of the President and Vice
President of the Republic an election shall be held sixty
days after the occurrence of the last vacancy. If the vacan-
cies should occur in the second half of the presidential
period, the election for both offices shall be held thirty days
after the last vacancy by the National Congress in the form
established by law. In either case those elected shall com-
plete the period of their predecessors.
Art. 80 — The conditions of eligibility for President and
Vice President of the Republic are :
I — be a Brazilian (Article 129, I and II);
II — be in the exercise of political rights;
III — be over thirty-five years of age.
Art. 81 — The President and Vice President of the Re-
public shall be elected simultaneously throughout the coun-
try, one-hundred and twenty days before the expiration of
the presidential period.
Art. 82 — The President and Vice President of the Re-
public shall hold office for five years.
Art. 83 — The President and the Vice President of the
Republic shall take office at a session of the National Con-
gress or, if the Congress is not in session, before the Fed-
eral Supreme Court.
Sole paragraph — The President of the Republic, upon
taking office, shall take the following pledge: "I promise
to maintain, defend and comply with the Constitution of
the Republic, observe its laws, promote the general welfare
of Brazil, maintain its union, its integrity and its inde-
pendence."
Art. 84 — If the President or the Vice President of the
Republic have not taken office thirty days after the date
fixed for their doing so, except because of illness, the office
shall be declared vacant by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
Art. 85 — The President and the Vice President of the
Republic cannot leave the country without permission of
the National Congress, under penalty of the loss of their
office.
Art. 88 — During the last legislative year previous to
the election of the President and the Vice President of the
Republic, their subsidies shall be fixed by the National
Congress.
SECTION II
The Attributes of the President of the Republic
Art. 87 — The President of the Republic shall have exclu-
sive power:
I — to approve, promulgate and have the laws published
and to issue decrees and regulations for their faithful
execution;
II — to veto bills in accordance with Article 70, § 1;
III — to appoint and dismiss the Ministers of State;
IV — to appoint and dismiss the Mayor of the Federal
District (article 26, §§ 1 & 2) and the members of the Na-
tional Council of Economy (article 205, § 1);
V — to fill federal public offices according to law and
with the exceptions established by this Constitution;
VI — to maintain relations with foreign States;
VII — to celebrate international treaties and conventions
subject to ratification of the National Congress;
VIII — to declare war, upon authorization by the National
Congress, but without this authorization in the case of
foreign aggression, when such occurs in the interval be-
tween legislative sessions;
IX — to make peace, with authorization and subject to
ratification of the National Congress;
X — upon authorization by the National Congress, but
without this authorization in the interval between legis-
lative sessions, to permit foreign forces to pass through the
territory of the Country or, by reason of war, to remain
therein temporarily;
XI — to exercise supreme command of the armed forces,
administering them through the medium of the competent
organs;
XII — to decree total or partial mobilization of the armed
forces;
XIII — to decree state of siege under the terms of this
Constitution;
XIV — to decree and execute federal intervention under
the terms of Articles 7 to 14;
7
XV — to authorize Brazilians to accept pension, em-
ployment or commission from foreign governments;
XVI — to send to the Chamber of Deputies within the first
two months of the legislative session, the budget proposal;
XVII — to render annually to the National Congress
within sixty days after the opening of the legislative session,
the accounts relative to the preceding fiscal year;
XVIII — to send a message to the National Congress upon
the occasion of the opening of the legislative session, giving
it an account of the state of the Nation and requesting of
it the action which he may judge necessary;
XIX — to grant pardon and commute sentences, with hear-
ing before the organs instituted by law.
SECTION III
The Responsibility of the President of the Republic
Art. 88 — The President of the Republic, after the Cham-
ber of Deputies have declared valid the accusation by the
vote of the absolute majority of its members, shall be sub-
mitted to judgment before the Federal Supreme Court for
common crimes or before the Federal Senate for those for
which he is officially answerable.
Sole Paragraph — When the accusation has been de-
clared founded, the President of the Republic shall be sus-
pended from his functions.
Art. 89 — Acts of the President of the Republic are crimes
of his responsibility which make attempt against the Federal
Constitution and especially against:
I — the existence of the Union;
II — the free exercise of the Legislative Power, or of the
Judicial Power, as well as of the constitutional powers of
the States;
III — the exercise of political, individual and social rights;
IV — the internal security of the Country;
V — the probity of the administration;
VI — the budget law;
VII — the safe keeping and legal employment of public
funds;
VIII — the fulfillment of judicial decisions.
Sole Paragraph — These crimes shall be defined in a
special law, which shall establish the norms of the respec-
tive prosecution and judgment.
SECTION IV
The Ministers of State
Art. 90 — The President of the Republic is assisted by
the Ministers of State.
Sole Paragraph — Essential conditions for investiture in
the office of Minister of State are:
I — be a Brazilian (Article 129, I and II);
II — be in the exercise of political rights;
III — be over twenty-five years of age.
Art. 91 — In addition to the attributes which the law
may fix, the Ministers of State shall have power:
I — to countersign the acts signed by the President of
the Republic;
II — to issue instructions for the good execution of the
laws, decrees and regulations;
III — to present to the President of the Republic a report
of the services of each year carried out in the Ministry;
IV — to appear before the Chamber of Deputies and
before the Federal Senate in the cases and for the purposes
specified in this Constitution.
Art. 92 — The Ministers of State, in common crimes and
those of their responsibility, shall be prosecuted. and judged
by the Federal Supreme Court; and in crimes connected
with those of the President of the Republic, by the organs
competent for the prosecution and judgment of the latter.
Art. 93 — In addition to that provided in Article 54, Sole
Paragraph, the acts defined in law according to the pro-
visions of Article 89, when practised or ordered by the
Ministers of State, are crimes of their responsibility.
Sole Paragraph — The Ministers of State are responsible
for the acts they may sign, even though jointly with the
President of the Republic, or which they may practice by
his order.
Chapter IV
The Judicial Power
SECTION I
Preliminary Provisions
Art. 94 — The Judicial Power is exercised by the follow-
ing organs:
I — Federal Supreme Court;
II — Federal Court of Appeals;
III — military judges and tribunals;
IV — electoral judges and tribunals;
V — labor judges and tribunals.
Art. 95 — Except for the instructions expressed in this
Constitution, judges shall enjoy the following guaranties:
I — life tenure, they being unable to lose office except by
judicial sentence;
II — irremovability, except when there should occur some
motive of public interest, recognized by the vote of two-
thirds of the effective members of the competent higher
court;
III — irreducibility of remuneration which, however, shall
remain subject to general taxes.
§ 1. Retirement shall be compulsory at seventy years of
age or for proven ill health, and optional after thirty years
of public service counted in the form of law;
§ 2. Retirement, in any case, shall be decreed with full
remuneration.
§ 3. Life tenure shall not extend compulsorily to those
judges whose functions are limited to the preparation of
cases and the substitution of effective judges, except after
ten years of continuous exercise of the office.
Art. 96 — Judges are prohibited:
I — to exercise, even though inactive, any other public
function except the secondary and higher teaching, and the
cases provided for in this Constitution, under penalty of
loss of judicial office;
II — to receive percentages, under any pretext, in the
cases subject to his handling and judgment;
III — to exercise political party activity.
Art. 97 — The courts shall have power:
I — to elect their president and other organs of direction;
II — to draw up their internal regulations and organize
the auxiliary services filling their offices in the form of
law; and likewise to propose to the competent Legislative
Power the creation or extinction of offices and the fixing of
the respective emoluments;
III — to grant leave and vacations in the terms of the
law to their members and to the judges and deputies who
may be immediately subordinate to them.
8
SECTION II
The Federal Supreme Court
Art. 98 — The Federal Supreme Court, with seat in the
Capital of the Republic and jurisdiction throughout the
national territory, shall be composed of eleven justices.
This number, upon the proposal of the Federal Supreme
Court itself, may be increased by law.
Art. 99 — The Justices of the Federal Supreme Court
shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, after
the selection has been approved by the Federal Senate,
from among Brazilians (Article 129, I and II) of notable
juridical wisdom and spotless reputation, who shall not be
less than thirty-five years of age.
Art. 100 — The Justices of the Federal Supreme Court,
in crimes of their responsibility, shall be prosecuted and
judged by the Federal Senate.
Art. 101 — The Federal Supreme Court shall have power:
I — to prosecute and judge in first instance:
a) — the President of the Republic in common crimes;
b) — its own Justices and the Attorney General of the
Republic in common crimes;
c) — the Ministers of State, the judges of the federal
superior courts, the judges of the Tribunals of Justice
of the States, of the Federal District and of the Territories,
the Ministers of the Tribunal of Accounts and the chiefs of
diplomatic mission in permanent character, both in common
crimes and in those of their responsibility, except, with
respect to the Ministers of State, that provided in the latter
part of Article 92;
d) — litigation between foreign States and the Union, the
States, the Federal District or the municipalities;
e) — -cases and conflicts between the Union and the
States or between these latter;
f^ — conflicts of jurisdiction between judges or diverse
federal tribunals of justice, between any federal judges or
tribunals and those of the States, and between judges or
tribunals of different States, including those of the Federal
District and those of the Territories;
g) — extradition of criminals, requested by foreign States
and the homologation of foreign sentences;
h) — habeas corpus, when the co-actor or the party re-
strained should be a court, an official, or authority whose
acts may be directly subject to the jurisdiction of the
Federal Supreme Court; in matters of crime subject to this
same jurisdiction in sole instance; when there may be peril
of violence being committed before another judge or court
can take cognizance of the request;
i) — writs of security against acts of the President
of the Republic, of the Administration of the Chamber or of
the Senate and of the President of the Federal Supreme
Court itself;
j ) — - the execution of sentences in cases of its original
jurisdiction, it having the right to delegate the acts of
procedure to an inferior judge or to another court;
k) — rescissory actions of its decisions.
II — to judge on ordinary appeal:
a) — writs of security and "habeas corpus" decided
in final instance by local or federal courts when the deci-
sion is one of denial;
b) — cases decided by local judges based on contract
or treaty between a foreign state and the Union, as well as
those in which a foreign state and a person domiciled in
the country may be parties;
c) — political crimes.
III — to judge on special appeal cases decided in sole or
final instance by other courts or judges:
a ) — when the decision is contrary to a provision of this
Constitution or the text of a federal treaty or law;
b) — when question is raised as to the validity of the
A
federal law under the Constitution, and the decision ap-
pealed denies application of the law impugned;
c) — when the validity of a law or act of a local govern- j
ment is impugned under this Constitution or under a federal i
law and the decision appealed holds the law or act valid. '
d) — when in the decision appealed the interpretation j
of the federal law invoked is different from that which has
been given to it by any of the other Judicial Tribunals or I
the Federal Supreme Court itself. j
IV — to review in the interest of those condemned, its ■
criminal decisions in completed proceedings.
Art. 102 — With voluntary appeal to the Federal Supreme
Court, its President shall have power to grant exequatur to
letters rogatory from foreign tribunals.
SECTION III
The Federal Court of Appeals
Art. 103 — The Federal Court of Appeals, with seat in
the Federal Capital, shall be composed of nine judges, ap-
pointed by the President of the Republic, after their selec-
tion has been approved by the Federal Senate, two-thirds
among magistrates and one-third among lawyers and mem-
bers of the public ministry with the requirements of
Article 99.
Sole Paragraph — The Court may divide itself into cham-
bers or sections.
Art. 104 — The Federal Court of Appeals shall have
power :
I — to prosecute and judge in first instance:
a) — rescissory actions of its decisions;
b) — writs of security when the restraining authority is
a minister of State, the Court itself or its President.
II — to judge on the level of appeal:
a) — cases decided in first instance, when the Union is
involved as plaintiff or defendant, witness or opponent,
except in matters of bankruptcy; and in matters of crimes
committed against the property, services or interests of the
Union, safeguarding the jurisdiction of the electoral and
military justice;
b) — the decisions of local judges when denying "habeas
corpus", and decisions issued in writs of security when
the restraining authority indicated is federal.
III — to review in the interest of those convicted, its
criminal decisions in completed proceedings.
Art. 105 — The law may create, in different regions of
the country, other Federal Courts of Appeals, through pro-
posal of the court itself and with the approval of the
Federal Supreme Court, fixing their seat and territorial
jurisdiction and with the observance of the provisions of
Articles 103 and 104.
SECTION IV
Military Judges and Tribunals
Art. 106 — The Military Superior Court and the inferior
tribunals and judges which the law may establish are
organs of military justice.
Sole Paragraph — The law shall make provision regard-
ing the number and the manner of selection of the military
judges and magistrates of the Military Superior Court, who
shall receive remuneration equal to that of the judges of
the Federal Court of Appeals, and it shall determine the
form of access of its auditors.
Art. 107 — The irremovability assured to members of
the Military Justice does not exempt them from the obliga-
tion to accompany the forces with which they are to serve.
Art. 108 — The Military Justice shall have power to
prosecute and judge military and similar persons in military
crimes defined in the law.
4
9
§ 1. This special court may be extended to civilians in
cases provided in the law, for the repression of crimes
against the external security of the Country or against its
military institutions. •
§ 2. The law shall regulate the application of the penalties
of military legislation in time of war.
SECTION V
Electoral Judges and Courts
Art. 109 — The organs of electoral justice are:
I — Superior Electoral Court;
II — Regional Electoral Courts;
III — electoral boards;
IV — electoral judges.
Art. 110 — The Superior Electoral Court, with seat in the
Capital of the Republic, shall be composed:
I — by election in secret ballot :
a) — of two judges chosen by the Federal Supreme
Court, from among its Ministers;
b) — of two judges selected by the Federal Court of
Appeals, from among its judges;
c) — and of one judge by the Court of Appeals of the
Federal District from among its judges.
II — by appointment of the President of the Republic, of
two from among six citizens of notable juridical learning
and spotless reputation who may not be incompatible by
law, indicated by the Federal Supreme Court.
Sole Paragraph — The Electoral Supreme Court shall
elect as its President one of the two justices of the Federal
Supreme Court, and its vice-presidency shall fall to the
other.
Art. Ill — There shall be a ^Regional Electoral Court in
the capital of each State and in the Federal District.
Soie Paragraph — Upon proposal of the Electoral Superior
Court, a Regional Electoral Court may be created by law
in the capital of any Territory.
Art. 112 — The Regional Electoral Courts shall be com-
posed :
I — by election in secret ballot:
a) — of three judges chosen by the Tribunal of Justice
from among its members;
b) — of two judges chosen by the Tribunal of Justice
from among the judges of law.
n — by appointment of the President of the Republic, of
two from among six citizens of notable juridical learning
and spotless reputation, who may not be incompatible by
law, indicated by the Tribunal of Justice.
Sole Paragraph — The President and the Vice President
of the Regional Electoral Court shall be chosen among the
three chief judges of the Tribunal of Justice.
Art. 113 — The number of judges of the electoral courts
shall not be reduced, but it may be increased, up to nine,
upon proposal of the Superior Electoral Court and in the
form suggested by it.
Art. 114 — The judges of the electoral courts, unless
there should be a justified reason, shall serve, compulsorily
for two years and may not serve for more than two con-
secutive two-year periods.
Art 115 — The alternates of the effective members of the
Electoral Courts shall be chosen, on the same occasion and
by the same process, in equal number for each category.
Art. 116 — The organization of the electoral boards shall
be regulated by law and shall be presided over by a judge
of law, and their members shall be appointed, after approval
of the Regional Electoral Court, by its President.
Art. 117 — The judges of law shall have power to exer-
cise, with full jurisdiction and in the form of the law, the
functions of electoral judges.
Sole Paragraph — The law may grant other judges
powers for functions other than those of decision.
Art. 118 — For as long as they shall serve, the electoral
magistrates shall enjoy, insofar as may be applicable to
them, the guaranties established in Numbers I and II of
Article 95, and, as such, shall not have other incompati-
bilities except those declared by law.
Art. 119 — The law shall regulate the powers of the
electoral judges and courts. Among the attributes of the
electoral justice, shall be included:
I — the registry and cancellation of registry of political
parties;
II — electoral division of the Country;
III — electoral registration;
IV — the fixing of the date of elections, when not deter-
mined by constitutional or legal provision;
V — the electoral process, the tallying of elections and
the issuance of diplomas to those elected;
VI — cognizance and decision of allegations of ineli-
gibility;
VII — the prosecution and judgment of electoral crimes
and common crimes which may be connected therewith,
and likewise those of "habeas corpus" and writ of security
in electoral matters;
VIII — cognizance of complaints relative to obligations
imposed by law upon political parties, with respect to their
accounting and to the ascertainment of the origin of their
funds.
Art. 120 — Decisions of the Superior Electoral Court may
not be appealed, except those which may declare the in-
validity of a law or act contrary to the Federal Constitu-
tion, and those denying "habeas corpus" or writ of security,
in which latter cases appeal may be had to the Federal
Supreme Court.
ji^rt. 121 — Appeal may be had from the decisions of
Regional Electoral Courts to the Supreme Electoral Court
only when:
I — they be taken contrary to express provision of law;
n — there occur difference in interpretation of law be-
tween two or more electoral courts;
ni — they bear upon the issuance of diploma in federal
and state elections.
IV — deny "habeas corpus" or writ of security.
SECTION VI
Labor Judges and Courts
Art. 122 — The organs of labor justice are:
I — Superior Labor Court;
II — Regional Labor Courts;
III — boards or judges of conciliation and judgment.
§ 1. The Superior Labor Court has its seat in the Federal
Capital.
§ 2. The law shall fix the number of the Regional Labor
Courts and their seats.
§ 3. The law shall establish the boards of conciliation
and judgment and may attribute their functions to the
judges of law in districts where boards are not established.
§ 4. Other organs of labor justice may be created by law.
§ 5. The constitution, investiture, jurisdiction, powers,
guaranties and conditions of the exercise of organs of labor
justice shall be regulated by law, preserving the equality
of representation of employees and employers.
10
Art. 123 — The labor justice shall have power to con-
ciliate and judge individual and collective disputes between
employees and employers, as well as other controversies
arising out of labor relations ruled by special legislation.
§ 1. Disputes relative to labor accidents are within the
jurisdiction of ordinary courts.
§ 2. The law shall specify the cases in which decisions
in collective disputes might establish norms and conditions
of work.
Title Two
STATE JUSTICE
Art. 124 — The States shall organize their justice with
observance of Articles 95 to 97 and also the following
principles :
I — the judiciary division and organization shall be inal-
terable during five years from the date of the law establish-
ing them, except for well-grounded proposal put forward by
the Tribunal of Justice;
II — courts of jurisdiction inferior to the Tribunals of
Justice may be created;
III — entry into life-tenure magistracy shall be dependent
upon competitive examinations, organized by the Tribunal
of Justice with collaboration of the Sectional Council of the
Order of Attorneys of Brazil, and indication of the candi-
dates shall be made whenever possible in a triplicate list;
IV — the promotion of judges shall be made from one
classification to another by length of service and by merit,
alternately, and, in the second case, shall be dependent
upon a triplicate list organized by the Tribunal of Justice.
An equal proportion shall be observed in accession to this
Tribunal, except as provided in Item V of this article. For
this purpose, in cases of merit, the triplicate list shall be
composed of names selected from among judges of any
classification. In cases of length of service, which shall be
ascertained in the last classification, the Tribunal shall
decide first whether the judge with longest service is to be
indicated; and if this one is refused by three-quarters of
the judges, the voting shall be repeated with respect to
the next in line, and so on successively, until the selec-
tion is fixed. Only after two years of effective service in
the respective classification may the judge be promoted.
V — in the composition of any court, a fifth of the
places shall be filled by attorneys and members of the
public ministry, of renowned merit and spotless reputa-
tion, with at least ten years of forensic practice. For each
vacancy, the Tribunal shall vote upon a triplicate list, in
secret session and with secret ballot. If a member of the
Public Ministry is selected, the resulting vacancy shall be
filled by an attorney;
VI — the remuneration of the judges shall be fixed at
an amount not inferior to that received, in any form, by
the secretaries of State; and the other life-tenure judges,
with a difference not to exceed thirty percent between one
classification and another, and attributing to those of highest
classification not less than two-thirds of the remuneration
of the chief judges;
VII — in case of transfer of the seat of the court, the
judge is authorized to move to the new seat or to a district
of equal classification or to request placement on an avail-
able list with full remuneration;
VIII — only by proposal of the Tribunal of Justice may
the number of its members or of the members of any other
court be altered;
IX — the Tribunal of Justice shall have exclusive power
to prosecute and judge inferior judges in ordinary crimes
and in those of their responsibility;
X — a temporary justice of the peace may be instituted,
with the judicial attributes of substitution, except for judg-
ment of final or appellate cases, and with powers for the
licensing and celebration of marriages and other acts
which the law may determine.
XI — magistrates may be created with investiture in office
limited to a certain time and powers to judge cases of small
value. These judges may substitute for life-tenure judges;
XII — state military justice, organized with observance of
the general precepts of federal law (Article 5, Number XV.
f), shall have as organs of first instance the councils of
justice and as organ of second instance a special court
or the Tribunal of Justice.
Title Three
THE PUBLIC MINISTRY
Art. 125 — The law shall organize the Public Ministry
of the Union in conjunction with the ordinary, military,
electoral and labor courts.
Art. 126 — The Federal Public Ministry has as its head
the Attorney General of the Republic. The Attorney Gen-
eral appointed by the President of the Republic, after ap-
proval of the selection by the Federal Senate from among
citizens with the requisites indicated in Article 99. is dis-
missible at will.
Sole Paragraph — The Union shall be represented in
court by the attorneys of the Republic, but the law may
entrust this representation, in the districts of the interior,
to the local public ministry.
Art. 127 — The members of the Public Ministry of the
Union, of the Federal District and of the Territories, shall
enter into the initial positions of the career by competition.
After two years of service, they may not be dismissed
except by judicial sentence or administrative process allow-
ing them the most ample defense; nor shall they be re-
moved, except upon representation put forward by the
head of the Public Ministry, based upon the convenience
of the service.
Art. 128 — In the States, the Public Ministry shall also
be established on a career basis, with observance of the
precepts of the preceding article, as well as that of pro-
motion from one classification to another.
Title Four
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Chapter I
Nafionolity and Citizenship
Art. 129 — The following are Brazilians: II — the children of a Brazilian father or mother born in
I _ persons born in Brazil, even though of foreign parents, a foreign country, if the parents are at the service of Brazil,
if the latter are not resident at the service of the govern- or, if they should not be, if they come to reside in the
ment of their country; country. In this case, after the attainment of majority they
11
should, in order to conserve Brazilian nationality, choose
it within four y«ars;
III — those who acquired Brazilian nationality under the
terms of Article 69, Numbers IV and V. of the Constitution
of February 24, 1891;
IV — foreigners naturalized in the form which the law
may establish, it being required of the Portuguese merely
that they reside in the country one uninterrupted year
and be of good moral standing and physical health.
Art. 130 — A Brazilian shall lose his nationality:
I — who, by voluntary naturalization, shall acquire an-
other nationality;
II — who, without permission of the President of the
Republic, shall accept a commission, employment, or pen-
sion from a foreign government;
III — who, by judicial sentence, in process established
by law, shall have his naturalization cancelled by reason
of exercising activity injurious to the national interest.
Art. 131 — Electors shall be Brazilians more than eighteen
years of age who register as prescribed by law.
Art. 132 — The following may not register as electors:
I — the illiterate;
II — those who do not know how to express themselves
in the national tongue;
III — those who may be deprived temporarily or perma-
nently of political rights.
Sole Paragraph — enlisted soldiers also may not register
as electors, except officer candidates, sub-officers, sub-
lieutenants, sergeants, and students of military schools of
higher instruction.
Art. 133 — Registration and voting are obligatory for
Brazilians of both sexes, save the exceptions established
by law.
Art. 134 — Suffrage is universal and direct; the vote is
secret; and the proportional representation of the natior:al
political parties is assured in the form which the law may
establish.
Art. 135 — Political rights shall be suspended or lost
only in the following cases:
§ 1. They shall be suspended:
I — for absolute civil incapacity;
II — for criminal conviction, for as long as its effects shall
last;
§ 2. They shall be lost:
I — in the cases established in Article 130;
II — for the refusal provided for in Article 141, §8;
III — for the acceptance of foreign title of nobility or dec-
oration which may imply restriction of right or duty before
the State.
Art. 136 — The loss of political rights carries with it,
simultaneously, the loss of public office or function.
Art. 137 — The law shall establish the conditions of
reacquisition of political rights and of nationality.
Art. 138 — Those who may not be registered and those
mentioned in the Sole Paragraph of Article 132 may not
be elected.
Art. 139 — The following also may not be elected:
I — as President and Vice President of the Republic :
a) — a President who may have held the office for any
space of time in the period immediately preceding, and
likewise the Vice President who may have succeeded him
or who, during the six months preceding the election, may
have substituted for him;
b) — until six months after definite separation from
their functions, the governors and federal interventors ap-
pointed in accordance with Article 12, the ministers of
State and the Mayor of the Federal District;
c) — until three months after definitive cessation of their
functions, the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court, and
the Attorney General of the Republic, the chiefs of staff,
the judges, the attorney-general and the regional attorneys
of the electoral justice, the secretaries of State and the
chiefs of police;
II — as governor :
a) — in each State, a governor who may have held the
office for any period of time in the period immediately pre-
ceding, or person who may have succeeded him, or who
may have substituted for him within the six months pre-
ceding the election; and a federal interventor appointed in
the form of Article 12, who may have exercised the func-
tions for any space of time in the governmental period
immediately preceding;
b) — until one year after definitive separation from his
functions, the President, the Vice President of the Republic,
and any substitutes who may have assumed the presidency;
c) — in each State, until three months after definitive
cessation of their functions, the secretaries of State, the
chiefs of the military districts, the commandants of police,
the federal and state magistrates and the chief of the
Public Ministry;
d) — until three months after definitive cessation of their
functions, those who may be ineligible for President of the
Republic, except those mentioned in items a) and b) of
this number;
III — as Mayor, anyone who may have held the office
in the period immediately preceding, as well as anyone
who may have succeeded him or who, within the six
months preceding the election, may have substituted for
him; and, likewise, for the same period, the police authori-
ties with jurisdiction in the municipality;
IV — for the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal
Senate, the authorities mentioned in Numbers I and II,
under the same conditions established therein, if in office
during the three months preceding the election;
V — for the legislative assemblies, the governors, secre-
taries of State, and the chief of Police, until two months
after definitive cessation of their functions.
Sole Paragraph — The precepts of this article apply to
the office-holders, both regular and provisional, in the
offices mentioned.
Art. 140 — Likewise ineligible, under the same conditions
set forth in the preceding article are the spouse and rela-
tives or kin, to the second degree:
I — of the President and the Vice President of the Re-
public or of the substitute who may assume the presi-
dency:
a) — for President and Vice President;
b) — for Governor;
c) — for Deputy or Senator, except in case of having
already exercised the mandate or of having been elected
simultaneously with the President and Vice President of
the Republic;
II — of the Governor or Federal Interventor, appointed
in accordance with Article 12 in each State:
a) — for Governor;
b) — for Deputy or Senator except in case of having
already exercised the mandate or of having been elected
simultaneously with the Governor;
III — of the Mayor for the same office.
12
Chapter II
Individual Rights and Guaranties
Art. 141 — The Constitution assures Brazilians and for-
eigners residing in the country the inviolability of the rights
respecting life, liberty, individual securty, and property
in the following terms:
§ 1. All are equal before the law.
§ 2. No one may be obliged to do or refrain from doing
anything except by virtue of the law.
§ 3. The law shall not prejudice any vested right, any
juridical act accomplished, or an adjudged matter.
§ 4. The law shall not exclude any injury to individual
rights from consideration by the judicial power.
§ 5. The manifestation of thought is free and shall not
be dependent upon censorship, except as regards public
spectacles and amusements, and each of these shall be
responsible in the cases and in the form which the law may
establish, for any abuses they may commit. Anonymity
is not permitted. The right of reply is assured. The pub-
lication of books and periodicals shall not be dependent
upon license from the public power. However, propaganda
for war, or violent processes to overthrow the political and
social order or prejudices of race or of class shall not be
tolerated.
§ 6. The secrecy of correspondence is inviolable.
§ 7. The liberty of conscience and creed is inviolable, and
the free exercise of religious sects is assured, as long as
they shall not be contrary to public order or good morals.
Religious associations shall acquire juridical personality
in the form of the civil law.
§ 8. No one shall be deprived of any of his rights by
reason of religious, philosophic or political conviction,
unless he shall invoke it in order to exempt himself from
any obligation, duty or service required by the law of
Brazilians in general, or shall refuse those which the same
law may establish as substitutes for those duties in order
to meet a conscientious excuse.
§ 9. Without constraint of the ones favored, religious
ministration shall be tendered by a Brazilian (art. 129, Nos.
I and II), to the armed forces, and likewise, when solicited
by interested parties or their legal representatives, in
establishments of collective internment.
§ 10. Cemeteries shall have secular character and shall
be administered by the municipal authority. All religious
confessions shall be permitted to practise their rites therein.
Religious associations may maintain private cemeteries,
in accord with the law.
§ 11. All may meet, without arms, without any interven-
tion on the part of the police except to assure public order.
With this object in view, the police may designate the place
for the meeting, with the understanding that proceeding
in this manner, they (the Police) do not frustrate the meet-
ing or render it impossible.
§ 12. Freedom of association for legitimate purposes is
assured. No association may be compulsorily dissolved ex-
cept by virtue of judicial sentence.
§ 13. The organization, registration, or functioning of
any political party or association whose program or action
may be contrary to the democratic regime based upon
plurality of parties and guaranty of the fundamental rights
of men, is prohibited.
§ 14. The practice of any profession shall be free, with
observance of such conditions of capacity as the law may
establish.
§ 15. The home is the inviolable refuge of the individual.
No one may enter therein at night, without the consent of
the dweller, except to go to the assistance of the victims of a
crime or a disaster, nor during the day, except in the cases
and in the manner established by law.
§ 16. The right of property is guaranteed except for the
case of expropriation for public necessity or utility, 6r social
interest, with prior and just indemnization in money. In
case of imminent peril, such as war or domestic commo-
tion, the competent authorities may use private property,
if the public good so requires, with the assurance of the
right to indemnization at a later date.
§ 17. Industrial inventions belong to their authors, to
whom the law shall guarantee temporary privilege, or, if
diffusion should be in the collective interest, it shall grant
a just reward.
§ 18. Ownership of industrial and commercial marks is
assured, as well as exclusivity in the use of a trade name.
§ 19. To the authors of literary, artistic or scientific works
shall belong the exclusive right to reproduce them. The
heirs of authors shall enjoy this right for such time as the
law may determine.
§ 20. No one shall be imprisoned except in the act of
committing a crime or, by written order issued by a com-
petent authority, in the cases specified by law.
§ 21. No one shall be taken to prison or detained therein
if he furnishes the bond permitted by law.
§ 22. The imprisonment or detention of any person shall
be immediately communicated to the competent judge,
who if it should not be legal, shall give release and, in
the cases provided for by law, shall hold the restraining
authority responsible.
§ 23. "Habeas corpus" shall be granted whenever any-
one shall suffer or be threatened with suffering violence or
restraint in his freedom of movement, by illegality or abuse
of power. In disciplinary transgressions, "habeas corpus"
shall not apply.
§ 24. To protect clear and certain rights not covered by
"habeas corpus," a writ of security shall be granted,
whatever may be the authority responsible for the illegality
or abuse of power.
§ 25. The accused are assured of full defense with all
the means and resources essential thereto, commencing with
the note of guilt, which, signed by the competent authority,
with the names of the accuser and of the witnesses, shall
be delivered to the prisoner within 24 hours. The criminal
instruction shall be contradictory (contestable).
§ 26. There shall be no privileged court nor exceptional
judges and tribunals.
§ 27. No one shall be prosecuted or sentenced except
by the competent authority and as provided by a prior law.
§ 28. The institution of the jury is maintained, with such
organization as the law may give to it, provided that the
number of its members shall be always odd and the
secrecy of its voting shall be guaranteed, as shall be the
fullness of the defense of the accused and the sovereignity
of the verdicts. The judgment of crimes against life shall
obligatorily be of its jurisdiction.
§ 29. Penal law shall determine the individualization of
the punishment and shall only be retroactive when it shall
so benefit the accused.
§ 30. No penalty shall extend beyond the person of the
delinquent.
§ 31. There shall be no penalty of death, of banishment,
of confiscation, nor of perpetual character. Exception is
made, with respect to the death penalty, of the provisions
of military law in time of war with a foreign country. The
law shall provide for the sequestration and loss of property,
in the case of illicit enrichment, through influence or
through abuse of public office or function, or of employ-
ment in an autarchic entity.
§ 32. There shall be no civil imprisonment for debt, fines
or costs, except in the case of an unfaithful custodian and
of failure to fulfill one's obligation of maintenance, as
provided by law.
13
§ 33. Extradition of a foreign subject shall not be granted
for political crimes or crimes of opinion nor of a Brazilian,
in any case.
§ 34. No tax shall be demanded or increased except
as the law shall establish, no tax shall be collected without
previous budgetary authorization in each fiscal year, excep-
tion made, however, of the customs tariff and of taxes
levied by reason of war.
§ 35. The public power shall grant judicial assistance
to the needy in such manner as the law may establish.
§ 36. The law shall assure:
I — the rapid despatch of documents in transit through
the public departments;
II — the communication to the interested parties of the
decisions given and the information to which the latter
refer;
III — the issuance of certificates or authenticated copies,
solicited for the defense of individual rights;
IV — the issuance of certificates or authenticated copies,
solicited for the elucidation of citizens concerning public
affairs, with restriction, in respect of the last named, of the
cases in which the public interest impose secrecy.
§ 37. The right is assured to any person whomsoever
to make representation against abuses by authorities and
to take steps to hold them responsible, by petition addressed
to the public powers.
§ 38. Any citizen shall be a legitimate party to plead the
annulment or declaration of nullity of acts injurious to the
patrimony of the Union, of the States, or of the Municipal-
ities, and likewise of autarchic entities and those of mixed
economy.
Art. 142 — In time of peace any person may enter the
national territory with his goods and remain therein or
depart therefrom, so long as the precepts of the law are
respected.
Art. 143 — The Federal Government may expel from the
national territory any foreigner injurious to the public order,
unless his spouse be a Brazilian and have a Brazilian child
(art. 129, nos. I and II), dependent upon the paternal
economy.
Art. 144 — The specification of the rights and guaranties
expressed in this Constitution does not exclude other rights
and guaranties resulting from the regime and from the
principles which it adopts.
1
Title Five
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ORDER
Art. 145 — The economic order shall be organized ac-
cording to principles of social justice, conciliating the
liberty of initiative with increasing the value of human
labor.
Sole Paragraph — Everyone is assured work that en-
ables a dignified existence. Work is a social obligation.
Art. 146 — The Union may intervene in the economic
sphere and monopolize certain industries or activities, by
means of special law. The intervention shall be based upon
the public interest, and shall be limited by the fundamental
rights assured in this Constitution.
Art. 147 — The use of property shall be conditioned upon
social welfare. The law may, with observance of the pro-
visions of Article 142 § 16, promote the fair distribution
of property, with egual opportunities for all.
Art. 148 — the law shall restrain any and every form
of abuse of economic power, including the unions or groups
of concerns, either individual or social, regardless of their
nature, with the aim of dominating the national markets,
eliminating competition and arbitrarily increasing profits.
Art. 149 — The law shall regulate the system of banks
of deposit, insurance companies, capitalization companies
and the like.
Art. 150 — The law shall create specialized credit estab-
lishments to assist agriculture and stock raising.
Art. 151 — The law shall make provisions for the reg-
ulating of concerns holding concessions for federal, state or
municipal public services.
Sole Paragraph — The control and revision of tariffs re-
lating to services carried on under concession, shall be
determined, so that the profits of the concessionaires, not
to exceed a fair remuneration of their capital, may permit
them to meet the need for improvement and the expansion
of these services. The law shall apply to the concessions
granted in the previous regime of tariffs stipulated for the
entire duration of the contract.
Art. 152 — Mines and other subsoil wealth, as well as
waterfalls, constitute property distinct from that of the
soil for the purpose of industrial development or use.
Art. 153 — The employment of mineral resources, and
those of hydraulic energy, depend upon federal authoriza-
tion or concession, as provided by law.
§ 1. Authorizations or concessions shall be granted ex-
clusively to Brazilians, or to concerns organized in the
country, the landowner being assured preference for the
development. The preferential rights of the landowner
shall be regulated in accordance with the nature of the
mines or deposits.
§ 2. The utilization of hydraulic power of reduced capa-
city shall not depend upon authorization or concession.
§ 3. Once the conditions demanded by law are satisfied,
among these being the possession of the required technical
and administrative services, the States shall exercise in
their territories the powers contained in this article.
§ 4. In the cases indicated by law and having in view
the general interest, the Union shall assist the states in
the studies pertaining to thermo-mineral waters of medicinal
application, and in the equipment of resorts destined for
their use.
Art. 154 — Usury, in any form, shall be punished by
law.
Art. 155 — Coastwise navigation for the transport of mer-
chandise is the exclusive prerogative of national ships,
except in cases of public necessity.
Sole Paragraph — The owners, charterers and command-
ers of national ships, as well as at least two-thirds of the
members of their crews, shall be Brazilians. (Art. 129,
Nos. I & II).
Art. 156 — The law shall facilitate the settlement of men
in the fields, establishing plans for the colonization and use
of public lands. For this purpose, preference shall be given
to nationals and, from among these, the inhabitants of im-
poverished zones and the unemployed.
§ 1. In the concession of ceded lands, the States shall
assure squatters (posseiros). who habitually dwell thereon,
the preference for the purchase of the land, up to twenty-
five hectares.
§ 2. Without the previous authorization of the Federal
Senate, no sale or concession of public lands exceeding
an area of ten thousand hectares may be effected.
§ 3. Anyone, who, not being either a rural nor an urban
landowner, occupies for ten uninterrupted years, without
opposition and without recognition of other ownership, a
piece of land not exceeding the area of twenty-five hectares,
and makes it productive by his work, and dwells thereon,
14
shall acquire ownership of the land, by declaratory sen-
tence duly transcribed.
Art. 157 — Labor and social security legislation shall be
governed by the following precepts as well as others
aiming to improve the conditions of workers:
I — a minimum salary calculated to cover, according to
the conditions of each region, the normal necessities of the
worker and his family;
II — prohibition of salary differences for the same worker
because of age, sex, nationality, or civil status;
III — higher pay for night work than for day work.
IV — obligatory and direct participation of the worker
in the profits of concerns on the terms and in the way
provided by law;
V — daily work not exceeding eight hours, except in the
cases and conditions provided by law;
VI — weekly rest with pay, preferably on Sundays, and
within the limits of the technical requirements of the
concerns, on the civil and religious holidays in accordance
with the local tradition;
VII — annual leave, with pay;
VIII — hygiene and safety in all work;
IX — prohibition of work for minors under fourteen; of
work in unhealthful industries, for women and for minors
under eighteen; and of night work for minors under eigh-
teen; with observance, in every instance, of the conditions
established by law and the exceptions admitted by the
competent authorities;
X — the right of a woman to rest before and after giving
birth, without prejudice to her employment and salary;
XI — fixation of the percentage of Brazilian employees,
wMcYi are \o be maintained compulsoiily in the public
services granted under concession and in establishments
in certain lines of commerce and industry;
XII — security of employment in concerns or in rural
development, as well as indemnization to the dismissed
worker, in the cases and on the conditions which the law
may establish;
XIII — recognition of the collective labor agreements;
XIV — medical and sanitary aid, including hospitaliza-
tion and preventive treatment for the worker, and to ex-
pectant mothers;
XV — assistance to the unemployed;
XVI — social security, by means of contribution from the
Union, from the employer and from the employee for the
benefit of motherhood, and against the consequences of
old age, invalidity, illness, or death;
XVII — obligation of the employer to establish insurance
against labor accidents;
Sole Paragraph — There shall be no distinction as to
rights, guarantees and benefits, between manual or tech-
nical labor and intellectual labor nor between those who,
respectively, exercise such callings.
Art. 158 — The right to strike is recognized, the exercise
of which shall be regulated by law.
Art. 159 — Professional or syndical association is per-
mitted; the form of constitution, the legal representation in
the collective labor contracts, and the exercise of functions
delegated by the public power being regulated by law.
Art. 160 — The ownership of journalistic concerns, either
political or simply for news, as well as radio broadcasting,
is forbidden to corporations having bearer shares, and to
foreigners. Neither the latter, nor juridical persons, except
the national political parties, may be shareholders of the
corporations owning such concerns. The principal respon-
sibility of them, as well as their intellectual and adminis-
trative orientation, shall be the exclusive prerogative of
Brazilians. (Art. 129, Nos. I & II)
Art. 161 — The law shall regulate the exercise of the
liberal professions, as well as the revalidation of diplomas
issued by ioieign educaUonal insU\u\ions.
Art. 162 — The selection, entry, distribution, and settle-
ment of immigrants shall be subject to the requirements of
the national interest, as provided by law.
Sole Paragraph — It shall devolve upon a federal admin-
istrative entity to orient those services, and coordinate them
with those of naturalization and colonization, nationals
being utilized as far as possible.
Title Six
THE FAMILY, EDUCATION AND CULTURE
Chapter I
The Family
Art. 163 — The family is constituted by marriage that
cannot be dissolved and shall have right to the special
protection of the State.
§ 1. Marriage shall be civil, and its celebration gratis.
Religious marriage shall be equivalent to civil marriage,
if performed with observance of the impediments estab-
lished by the law, and in conformity with its provisions,
and request to this effect be made by the celebrant or
any party at interest, provided that the act is registered
in the civil registry.
§ 2. Religious marriage celebrated without the formali-
ties of this article shall have civil effects if, at the request
of the betrothed, it be transcribed in the civil registry
after ratification before the civil authorities.
Art. 164 — Assistance to mothers, infants and adoles-
cents is obligatory throughout the national territory. The
law shall provide assistance to families with numerous
offspring.
Art. 165 — The order of succession to the estate of a
foreigner, if located in Brazil, shall be regulated by the
Brazilian law and for the benefit of the spouse or of the
Brazilian children, in cases where the national law of
de cujus may not favor them to a greater extent.
Chapter II
Education and Culture
Art. 166 — Education is the right of everyone, and shall
be administered at home and in the school. It shall be
inspired by the principles of liberty, and the ideals of
human solidarity.
Art. 167 — Teaching, in its different branches, shall be
administered by the public powers and is open to private
initiative, provided the laws which regulate it are duly
respected.
Art. 168 — Teaching legislation shall adopt the follow-
ing principles:
15
I — primary schooling is obligatory and shall be given
only in the national language;
II — the official primary schooling is free to all; the offi-
cial schooling subseguent to the primary schooling, shall be
free for whoever proves lack or insufficiency of means;
III — the industrial, commercial and agricultural estab-
lishments employing more than one hundred persons are
obligated to maintain free primary teaching for their em-
ployees and their employees' children;
IV — industrial and commercial concerns are obligated
to administer, in cooperation, teaching to minors in their
employ in such form as the law may establish, having
regard to the rights of the teacljers;
V — religious instruction shall be a part of the teaching
schedule of official schools, matriculation therein shall be
optional, and shall be administered in accordance with the
religious confession of the pupil, manifested by him, if he
is capable, or by his legal representative or person respon-
sible for him;
VI — for the filling of teaching positions, in official col-
leges, or in the free or official high schools a competi-
tion based on degrees and examinations shall be de-
manded. Professors admitted by competition of degrees
and examinations shall be assured tenure for life;
VII — the liberty of professorship is guaranteed.
Art. 169 — Annually, the Union shall apply not less than
ten per cent, and the States, the Federal District, and the
municipalities not less than twenty per cent of their revenue
derived from taxes to the maintenance and development
of teaching.
Art. 170 — The Union shall organize the Federal teach-
ing system, as well as that of each territory.
Sole Paragraph — Federal teaching system shall have a
supplementary character, extending throughout the country
within the strict limits of the local deficiency.
Art. 171 — Each State, as well as the Federal District,
shall organize its own teaching system.
S-^lo Paragraph — For the development of these teaching
systems, the Union shall cooperate with pecuniary aid,
which, with respect to the primary teaching, shall be de-
rived out of the respective National Fund.
Art. 172 — Each teaching system shall obligatorily have
services of educational assistance to assure the needy
pupils, conditions of scholastic efficiency.
Art. 173 — The sciences, letters, and arts are free.
Art. 174 — Support of culture is a duty of the State.
Sole Paragraph — The law shall promote the creation of
research institutes, particularly in connection with estab-
lishment of higher education.
p^j-l 175 — The works, momuments. and documents of
historical and artistic value, as well as the natural monu-
ments, landscapes and places endowed with peculiar
beauty, are under the protection of the public power.
Title Seven
THE ARMED FORCES
Art. 176 — The Armed Forces, constituted essentially
by the Army. Navy, and Air Force, are permanent national
institutions, organized on a basis of hierarchy and disci-
pline, under the supreme authority of the President of the
Republic, and within the limit of the law.
Art. 177 — It is the mission of the Armed Forces to defend
the Country and guarantee the constitutional powers, as
well as law and order.
Art. 178 — The political direction of war, and the selec-
tion of the commanders-in-chief of the forces in operation
shall be incumbent on the President of the Republic.
Art. 179 — The problems pertaining to the defense of
the Country shall be studied by the Council of National
Security and by the special organs of the Armed Forces,
charged with their preparation for mobilization and military
operations.
§ 1. The Council of National Security shall be under the
direction of the President of the Republic and therein shall
take part, as effective members, such Ministers of State
and chiefs of staff, as the law may determine. In cases of
impediment, the President of the Republic shall appoint a
substitute.
§ 2. The law shall regulate the powers and the func-
tions of the Council of National Security.
Art. 180 — In the zones indispensable to the defense of
the country, the following shall not be permitted, without
consent of the Council of National Security:
I — any act whatsoever, relating to the concession of
lands, the opening of means of communication and the in-
stallation of transmitting apparatus;
II — construction of bridges and international roads;
III — establishment or development of any industries
affecting the national security.
§ 1. The law shall specify the zones indispensable to
the national defense, shall regulate their utilization and
shall insure the predominance of Brazilian capital and
labor in the industries situated therein.
§ 2. The authorizations referred to in Nos. I. II and III
may, at any time, be modified or cancelled by the Council
of National Security.
Art. 181 — All Brazilians are obligated to military serv-
ice or other duties necessary to the defense of the country
under the terms and penalties of the law.
§ 1. Women are exempted from military service but are
subject to such duties as the law may establish.
§ 2. The military obligation of clergymen shall be ful-
filled in the services of the armed forces or by means
of spiritual assistance to them.
§ 3. No Brazilian, after reaching the minimum military
service age. established by law. may hold public office or
employment in any state-controlled entity, society of mixed
economy or undertaking holding a concession for public
service, without producing proof of military enlistment, of
being a reservist, or of enjoying exemption from such
obligation.
§ 4. To favor the fulfillment of military obligations, "tiros
de guerra" and other organs for the formation of reservists
are permitted,
j^j-t 182 — Commissions, with the advantages and privi-
leges therein inherent, are fully guaranteed not only to
active officers and those of the reserve but also to the re-
tired officers.
§ 1. Military rank, posts and uniforms are the exclusive
right of the active, the reserve or the retired soldier.
§ 2. An officer of the Armed Forces shall lose his post
and commission only by condemnatory sentence. ^ pro-
nounced by a judge, whose penalty restrictive of individual
liberty exceeds two years; or. in the cases provided by
law. if he is declared unworthy or incompatible with the
rank of an officer, in accordance with decision of a mili-
tary court of permanent character in peacetime, or of a
special court during war. whether external or civil.
§ 3. The soldiers who. being in active duty of the
armed forces, shall accept a permanent public position
outside his career, shall be transferred to the reserve with
the rights and duties defined by law.
16
I
^ 4. Any soldier on active duty who shall accept a tem-
porary public office, whether elective or not, shall be added
to the respective roster and shall only count trial service
for promotion by seniority, transfer to the reserve, or re-
tirement. After eight years of separation, continuous or not,
he shall be transferred, as provided by law, to the reserve
without prejudice to the counting of time for retirement.
§ 5. Any soldier receiving remuneration in payment of
a permanent or temporary position, shall not be entitled to
his regular salary, whether he be in active service, in the
reserve or in retirement.
§ 6. The provisions of Arts. 192 and 193 are applicable
to professional soldiers.
Art. 183 — The military police, instituted for the purpose
of guaranteeing internal security and the maintenance of
order in the States, the Territories and the Federal District,
are deemed to be reserve auxiliary forces of the Army.
Sole Paragraph — When mobilized in the service of the
Union, in time of civil war or war abroad, the personnel
of the military police shall enjoy the same benefits as that
of the Army.
Title Eight
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Art. 184 — Public offices (i.e., positions) are open to all
Brazilians, with observance of the reguirements of the
law.
Art. 185 — The accumulation of any public posts is pro-
hibited, except that provided for in Article 96, I, as well
as the accumulation of two teaching positions, or of a
teaching position and a scientific or technical one pro-
vided that there is correlation of subjects and compatibility
of schedule.
Art. 186 — The first investiture in career offices, or in
others which the law may provide shall be effected by
competition followed by health inspection.
Art. 187 — The only appointments for life are those of
magistrates. Ministers of Accounts Tribunal, officers of jus-
tice and university professors.
Art. 188 — The following shall have stability in their em-
ployment :
I — effective employees appointed by competition, after
two years in office;
II — effective employees, appointed without competition,
after five years in office.
Sole Paragraph — The provisions of this article do not
apply to posts of confidence nor to those which the law
may declare to be of free appointment and dismissal.
Art. 189 — Public employees shall lose their positions:
I — if holding a life appointment, only by virtue of a
judicial sentence;
II — if having stability of employment, not only in the
case provided" for in the preceding item, but also if their
offices are extinguished or if they are dismissed after an
administrative process, in which they have been allowed
the most ample defense.
Sole Paragraph — Should an office be extinguished, the
employee who has stability of employment, shall go on an
available list with pay, until he is obligatorily made use of
in another position whose nature and pay are compatible
with that he had occupied.
Art. 190 — Should the dismissal of any employee be
invalidated by a sentence, he shall be reinstated. Anyone
who may have occupied his place shall be summarily re-
moved or restored to his old position, but with no right to
indemnization.
Art. 191 — Employees shall be retired:
a) — for invalidity;
b) — compulsorily, at the age of seventy.
§ 1. Any employee with more than thirty-five years of
service may be retired at his request.
§ 2. Retirement salaries shall be in full, if the employee
has had thirty years of service; and shall be in proportion
if the employee has not attained this limit.
§ 3. Retirement salaries shall be in full when the em-
ployee becomes invalid on account of an accident sus-
tained in the service, by reason of a professional illness
or serious, contagious or incurable illness, specified by
law.
§ 4. Having regard to the special nature of the work,
the law can reduce the limits referred to in No. II, in the
second paragraph of this article.
Art. 192 — The time of federal, state, or municipal pub-
lic service shall be computed in full, for the purposes of
placement on available lists and retirement.
Art. 193 — Inactivity income shall be adjusted whenever
salaries of active employees are modified by reason of
fluctuation of the purchasing power of the currency.
Art. 194 — luridical persons of national public right are
civilly responsible for any harm which their employees, as
such, may cause to third parties.
Sole Paragraph — These persons shall have right of re-
course of action against the employees causing the harm,
if the latter are found to have been guilty.
Title Nine
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 195 — The flag, the hymn, the seal and the arms
in use on the date of promulgation of this Constitution are
national symbols.
Sole Paragraph — The states and municipalities also
may have their symbols.
Art. 196 — The diplomatic representation to the Holy See
is maintained.
Art. 197 — The incompatibilities set forth in Article 48
extend insofar as may be applicable to the President and
Vice President of the Republic, to the Ministers of State
and to the members of the ludicial Power.
Art. 198 — For the execution of the defense plans against
the effects of the so-called drought of the Northeast, the
Union shall spend, annually, upon works and services of
social and economic assistance an amount never inferior
to three per cent of all tax revenue.
§ 1. One-third of this amount shall be deposited in a
special fund destined for the help of the populations af-
fected by the calamity; this reserve, or part of it, may be
invested at moderate interest in accordance with the pro-
visions of law, in loans to farmers and industrialists estab-
lished in the area embraced by the drought.
§ 2. The States within the drought area shall invest
three per cent of their tax revenue in the construction of
dams, on a cooperative basis, and in other services neces-
sary to the assistance of their populations.
Art. 199 — In the execution of the plan to increase the
17
economic worth of the Amazon Valley, the Union shall in-
vest, during at least twenty consecutive years, an amount
not less than three per cent of its tax revenue.
Sole Paragraph — The States and Territories within that
region, as well as their respective municipalities, shall
reserve, annually, for the same purpose, three per cent of
their tax revenue. The resources referred to in this para-
graph shall be applied through the medium of the Federal
Government.
Art. 200 — Only by vote of an absolute majority of their
members may the courts declare the unconstitutionality of a
law or act of the public power.
Art. 201 — Law-suits in which the Union be the plaintiff
shall be judged in the capital of the State or Territory in
which the other party is domiciled. Actions against the
Union may be judged in the capital of the State or Terri-
tory in which the plaintiff has his domicile; in the capital
of the State in which the deed or fact which gave origin to
the claim occurred or in which the object be situated; or
again, in the Federal District.
§ 1. Cases brought before other judges, if the Union
shall figure therein as witness or opponent, shall come
under the jurisdiction of one of the judges of the capital.
§ 2. The law may permit the action to be brought in
another court, committing the judicial representation of the
Union to the State Public Ministry.
Art. 202 — Taxes shall be of a personal nature whenever
possible, and shall be graduated according to the economic
capacity of the taxpayer.
Art. 203 — No tax shall fall directly upon author's roy-
alties of writers nor on the remuneration of teachers and
journalists.
Art. 204 — Payments dile by the Federal, State or Munici-
pal Treasuries by virtue of judicial sentence, shall be made
in the order of presentation of the claims and be charged
against the respective credits, it being forbidden to desig-
nate cases or persons in the budget allocations and extra-
budgetary credits opened for this purpose.
Sole Paragraph — The budget allocations and credits
opened shall be consigned to the Judicial Power, the
amounts being paid to the competent department. It is
the responsibility of the president of the Federal Court
of Appeals or, according to the case, president of the
Tribunal of Justice, to issue orders of payment according
to the possibilities of the deposit and to authorize upon
requisition of any creditor deferred in his right of prece-
dence, and after hearing the Chief of the Public Ministry,
the sequestration of the amount necessary to satisfy the
debit.
Art. 205 — The National Council of Economy is hereby
created, and its organization shall be regulated by law.
§ 1. Its members shall be appointed by the President of
the Republic, after approval of the selection by the Federal
Senate, from among citizens of notable competence in econ-
omic affairs.
§ 2. It is incumbent on the Council to study the economic
life of the country and to suggest to the competent authority
the measures that it may deem necessary.
Art. 206 — The National Congress may decree martial
law in the following instances:
I — serious domestic commotion, or facts evidencing its
imminence;
II — external war.
p^jl 207 — The law decreeing martial law in the case
of external war or in the case of serious domestic com-
motion with the character of civil war, shall also estab-
lish the norms its execution should follow, and shall in-
dicate the constitutional guaranties that will continue in
effect. It shall also specify the cases where crimes against
the security of the nation or its political or social institutions
are to become subject to military jurisdiction and legisla-
tion, when committed by civilians, but outside of the zones
of operation only when related to them (zones of opera-
tion) and having a bearing on their development.
Sole Paragraph — When the martial law has been pub-
lished, the President of the Republic shall designate in a
decree the persons in charge of its execution, and the zones
of operation that, in accordance with the aforesaid Decree,
shall be submitted to military jurisdiction and legislation.
/^3^t. 208 — In the interval between legislative sessions,
it shall be the exclusive prerogative of the President of the
Republic to decree or extend the martial law, with observ-
ance of the provisions of the preceding article.
Sole Paragraph — After martial law has been decreed,
the President of the Senate shall immediately convoke the
National Congress to meet within fifteen days to approve or
disapprove the law.
Art. 209 During the martial law decreed in accord-
ance with Number I. Article 206, only the following meas-
ures may be taken against individuals:
I — obligation to remain in a determined locality;
n — detention in buildings not destined for common crim-
inals;
III — banishment to any locality, populated and health-
iul. of the national territory.
Sole Paragraph — The President of the Republic may
moreover determine:
I —.censorship of correspondence or publicity, includ-
ing that of radio broadcasting, cinema and theater;
n — the suspension of the right to hold meetings, includ-
ing that exercised by associations within their own prem-
ises;
III — the search and apprehension in private houses;
IV — suspension from office or employment of any public
official or employee of any autarchy, or entity of mixed
economy, or concern holding concession for public services;
V intervention in the public service concerns.
Art. 210 — Martial law in the case of Number I, Article
206. may not be decreed for more than thirty days, nor may
it be extended, in each instance, for more than this period.
In the case of Number II, it may be decreed for as long as
the external war shall last.
Art. 211— When martial law be decreed by the Pres-
ident of the Republic, in accordance with Art. 208. the latter,
as soon as the National Congress is assembled, shall, in a
special message, relate the motives which determined such
action and shall justify the measures that may have been
adopted. The National Congress, in secret session, shall
then deliberate upon the decree issued in order to revoke
it or maintain it, taking note, also, of the Government s
action according to the information furnished and, when
necessary, authorizing the extension of the measure.
Art. 212 — The decree of martial law shall always
specify the regions it is to cover.
Art. 213 — The immunities of the members of the Na-
tional Congress shall continue during martial law; never-
theless, the immunities of certain Deputies or Senators
whose liberty becomes manifestly incompatible with the
National defense or with the security of political or social
institutions, may be suspended by vote of two-thirds of the
members of the Chamber or of the Senate.
Sole Paragraph — In the interval between legislative ses-
sions, the authorization shall be given by the President of
the Chamber of Deputies or by the Vice-President of the
Federal Senate, according as members of one or other
Chamber are involved, but ad referendum by the respective
Chamber, which should immediately be convoked to meet
within fifteen days.
18
Art. 214 — When the martial law has expired, its effects
shall also cease.
Sole Paragraph — As soon as the martial law shall end,
the measures applied during the period of its effectiveness
shall be reported by the President of the Republic in a
message to the National Congress, with specification and
justification of the measures adopted.
Art. 215 — Failure to observe the provisions of Articles
206 to 215 shall make the restraint illegal, and shall allow
the parties restrained to appeal to the Judicial Power.
Art. 216 — The possession of lands by aborigines who
may be permanently dwelling there, shall be respected,
provided that they do not sell them.
Art. 217 — The Constitution may be amended.
§ 1. An amendment shall be considered proposed, if
presented by at least one-fourth of the members of the
Chamber of Deputies or of the Federal Senate, or by more
than one-half of the Legislative Assemblies of the States,
in the course of two years, each of these manifesting itself
by majority of its members.
§ 2. An amendment shall be considered accepted if it be
approved in two discussions by an absolute majority of the
Chamber of Deputies and of the Federal Senate, in two
ordinary, consecutive legislative sessions.
§ 3. If the amendment shall obtain in one of the Cham-
bers, in two discussions, the vote of two-thirds of its mem-
bers, it shall immediately be submitted to the other; and
if approved in this Chamber by the same process, and by
equal majority, it shall be considered accepted.
§ 4. The amendment shall be promulgated by the Boards
of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Federal Senate.
After publication, over the signatures of the members of
both Boards, it shall be appended, with its respective
sequence number, to the text of the Constitution.
§ 5. The Constitution shall not be modified while martial
law is in force.
§ 6. Bills tending to abolish the Federation and the
Republic shall not be admitted to consideration.
Art. 218 — This Constitution, and the act of the Consti-
tutional transitory provisions, after they have been signed
by the Deputies and Senators present, shall be promul-
gated simultaneously by the Administration of the Con-
stituent Assembly, and shall become effective on the date
of their publication.
In the Meeting Hall of the Constitutional Committee,
September 9, 1946:
Rio de Janeiro, 18th September 1946, 125th year of the
Independence and 58th of the Republic. — (signed) — Fer-
nando de Mello Vianna, President; Georgino Avelino, 1st
Secretary; Lauro Sodre Lopes, 2nd Secretary; Lauro Mon-
tenegro, 3rd Secretary; Ruy Almeida, 4th Secretary; Carlos
Marighella; Hugo Ribeiro Carneiro; Hermelindo de Gusmao
Castello Branco Filho; Alvaro Maia; Waldemar Pedrosa;
Leopcldo Peres; Francisco Pereira da Silva; Cosme Fer-
reira Filho; J. Magalhaes Barata; Alvaro Adolpho; Duarte
de Oliveira; Lameira Bittencourt; Carlos Nogueira; Nelson
Pari] OS ; Joao Botelho; Jose da Rocha Ribas; Clodomir Car-
doso; Crepory Franco; Victorino Freire; Odilon Soares; Luis
Carvalho; Jose Neiva; Affonso Mattos; Mauro Renault Leite;
Raimundo de Areia Leao; Sigefredo Pacheco; Moreira da
Rocha; Antonio da Frota Gentil; Francisco de Almeida
Monte; Oswaldo Studart Filho; Raul Barbosa; Deoclecio
Dantas Duarte; Jose Varella; Waif redo Gurgel; Mota Neto;
Janduhy Carneiro; Samuel Duarte; Jose Joffily; A. de Novais
Filho; Etelvino Lins de Albuquerque; Agamemnon Magal-
haes; Jarbas Maranhao; Gercino Malagueta de Pontes;
Oscar Carneiro; Oswaldo C. Lima; Costa Porto; Ulysses Lins
de Albuquerque; Joao Ferreira Lima; Barbosa Lima So-
brinho; Paulo Pessoa Guerra; Teixeira de Vasconcellos;
Ismar de Gois Monteiro; Silvestre Pericles; Luiz Medeiros
Neto; Jose Maria de Mello; Antonio M. Maffra; Affonso de
Carvalho; Francisco Leite Neto; Graccho Cardoso; Renato
Aleixo; Lauro de Freitas; Aloysio de Castro; Regis Pacheco;
Arthur Negreiros Falcao; Altamirando Requido; Eunapio
de Queiroz; Vieira de Mello; Froes da Motta; Aristides
Milton; Attilio Vivacqua; Henrique de Novaes; Ary Vianna;
Carlos Lindenberg; Eurico Salles; Vieira de Rezende; Alvaro
Castello; Asdrubal Soares; Jonas Correia; Jose Fontes Ro-
mero; Jose Carlos Pereira Pinto; Alfred Neves; Ernani do
Amoral Peixoto; Eduardo Duvivier; Carlos Pinto; Paulo Fer-
nandes; Getulio Moura; Heitor Collet; Silvio Bastos Tavares;
Accurcio Francisco Torres; Brigido Tinoco; Miguel Couto
Filho; Levindo Eduardo Coelho; Benedicto Valladares; Ju-
scelino Kubitschek de Oliveira; J. Rodrigues Seabra; Pedro
Dutra; Jose Francisco Bias Fortes; Israel Pinheiro; Gustavo
Capanema; Francisco Duque de Mesquita; Wellington Bran-
dao; Jose Maria Alkmim, Augusto das Chagas Viegas;
Jodo Henrique; Joaquim Libanio Leite Ribeiro; Celso Por-
firio de Araujo Machado; Olyntho Fonseca Filho; Fran-
cisco Rodrigues Pereira Junior; Lahyr Paletta de Rezende
Tostes; Alfredo Sd; Christiano M. Machado; Luiz Milton
Prates; Goffredo da Silva Telles Junior; Novelli Junior; An-
tonio Ezequiel Feliciano da Silva; Jose Cezar de Oliveira
Costa; Benedicto Costa Netto; Jose Armando Affonseca;
Jodo Gomes Martins Filho; Sylvio Campos; Horacio Lafer;
Jose Jodo Abdalla; Joaquim A. Sampaio Vidal; Jose Carlos
de Ataliba Nogueira; Jose Alves Palma; Honorio Fernandes
Monteiro; J. Machado Coelho e Castro; Edgard Baptista
Pereira; Pedro Ludovico Teixeira; Dario Delio Cardoso; Fla-
vio Carvalho Guimardes; Diogenes Magalhdes; Jodo d'A-
breu; Albatenio Caiado Godoi; Galeno Paranhos; Guil-
herme Xavier de Almeida; J. Ponce de Arruda; Gabriel
Martiniano de Araujo; Argemino Fialho; Roberto Glasser;
Fernando Flores; Munhoz de Mello; Jodo Aguiar; Aramis
Athayde; Gomy Junior; Nereu Ramos; Ivo d'Aquino; Ader-
bal Silva; Octacilio Costa; Orlando Brasil; Roberto Grossen-
bacher; Rogerio Vieira; Hans Jordan; Ernesto Dornelles;
Gaston Englert; Adroaldo Costa; Brochado da Rocha; Eloy
Rocha; Theodomiro Porto da Fonseca; Damaso Rocha; An-
tero Leivas; Manoel Duarte; Souza Costa; Bittencourt
Azambuja; Nicolay Vergueiro; Glycerio Alves; Mercio
Teixeira; Daniel Faraco; Pedro Vergara; Herophilo Azam-
buja; Bayard Lima; Manuel Severiano Nunes; Agostinho
Monteiro; Epilogo de Campos; Alarico Nunes Pacheco;
Antenor Bogea; Mathias Olympio; Jose Candido; Antonio
Maria de Rezende Correa; Adelmar Rocha, Coelho Rodri-
gues; Plinio Pompeu; Fernandes Tavora; Paulo Sarasate;
Gentil Barreira; Beni Carvalho; Egberto Rodrigues; Fer-
nandes Telles; Jose de Borba; Ledo Sampaio; Alencar
Araripe; Edgard de Arruda; J. Ferreira de Souza; Jose
Augusto Bezerra de Medeiros; Aluisio Alves; Adalberto
Ribeiro; Vergniaud Wanderley; Argemiro de Figueiredo;
Jodo Agripino Filho; Jodo Ursulo; Ribeiro Coutinho Filho;
Ernani Ayers Satyro e Souza; Plinio Lemos; Fernando Car-
neiro da Cunha Nobrega; Osmar de Araujo Aquino; Carlos
de Lima Cavalcanti; Aide Feijo Sampaio; Jodo Cleophas
de Oliveira; Gilberto de Mello Freyre; Antonio de Freitas
Cavalcanti; Mario Gomes de Barros; Rui Soares Palmeiro;
Walter Franco; Leandro Maciel; Heribaldo Vieira; Aloysio
de Carvalho Filho; Juracy Magalhdes; Octavio Manga-
beira; Manoel Novdes; Jodo da Costa Pinto Dantas Junior;
Clemente Mariani Bittencourt; Raphael Cincura de Andrade;
Jodo Mendes da Costa Filho; Luiz Viana; Alberico Fraga;
Nestor Duarte; Aliomar de Andrade Baleeiro; Ruy Santos;
Luiz Claudio; Hamilton de Lacerda Nogueira; Euclides Fi-
gueiredo; Jurandyr Pires; Jose Eduardo de Prado Kelly;
Dr. Antonio Jose Romdo Junior; Jose de Carvalho Leomil;
Jose Monteiro Soares Filho; Jose Monteiro de Castro; Jose
Bonifacio Lafayette de Andrada; Jose Maria Lopes Can-
cado; Jose de Magalhdes Pinto; Gabriel de R. Passos;
Milton Soares Campos; Lycurgo Leite Filho; Mario Masagdo;
Paulo Nogueira Filho; Romeu de Andrade Lourencdo; Plinio
Barreto; Luiz de Toledo Piza Sobrinho; Aureliano Leite;
Jalles Machado de Sigueira; Vespasiano Martins; Jodo Vil-
lasboas; Dolor Ferreira de Andrade; Dr. Agricola Pdes de
Barros; Erasto Gaertner; Tavares d'Amaral; Conego Thomas
Fontes; Jose Antonio Flores da Cunha; Osorio Tuyuty de
Oliveira Freitas; Leopoldo Neves; Luiz Logo de Araujo;
Benjamin Miguel Farah; M. do N. Vargas Netto; Fran-
19
Cisco Gurgel do Amoral Valente; Jose de Segadas Vianna;
Manoel Benicio Fontenelle; Paulo Baeta Neves; Antonio
Jose da Silva; Edmundo Barreto Pinto; Abelardo dos Santos
Mata; Jarbas de Lery Santos; Ezequiel da Silva Mendes;
Alexandre Marcondes Filho; Hugo Borghi; Guaracy Sil-
veira; Jose Correira Pedroso Junior; Romeu Jose Fiori;
Bertho Conde; Euzebio Rocha; Melo Braga; Arthur Fischer;
Gregorio Bezerra; Agostinho Oliveira; Alcedo Coutinho;
Luiz Carlos Prestes; Joao Amazonas; Mauricio Grabois;
Joaquim Baptista Neto; Claudino J. Silva; Alcides Sabenca;
Jorge Amado; Jose Chrispim; Oswaldo Pachedo da Silva;
Caires de Brito; Abilio Fernandes; Lino Machado; Souza
Leao; Durval Cruz; Amando Fontes; Jacy de Figueiredo;
Daniel de Carvalho; Mario Brant; A. Bernardes Filho;
Philippe Balbi; Arthur Bernardes; Altino Arantes; Munhoz
da Rocha; Deodoro Machado de Mendonca; Olavo Oliveira;
Stenio Gomes; Jodo Adeodato; Cafe Filho; Theodulo Albu-
querque; Romeu de Campos Vergal; Dr. P. Alfredo de
Arruda Comoro; Manoel Victor; Hermes Lima; Domingos
Velasco; Raul Pilla.
The Constituent Assembly decrees and promulgates the following
ACT OF CONSTITUTrONAL TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
Art. 1 — After promulgation of this Act, the Constituent
Assembly shall, on the following day, elect the Vice-Pres-
ident of the Republic for the first constitutional period.
§ 1. Such election, for which none shall be ineligible,
shall be made by secret scrutiny and shall, on the first
ballot, be by absolute majority of votes, or if none of the
voted candidates obtain it, by relative majority the second
time.
§ 2. The Vice-President elect shall take office before the
Assembly on the same date, or else before the Federal
Senate.
§ 3. The mandate of the Vice-President shall terminate
simultaneously with that of the first presidential period.
Art. 2. — The mandate of the President of the Republic
in office (Art. 82 of the Constitution) shall count as from
the date of his taking office,
§ 1. The mandates of the present deputies and those of
the federal senators who where elected in order to com-
plete the number prescribed by Paragraph 1 of Art. 60
of the Constitution, shall coincide with that of the President
of the Republic.
§ 2. The mandates of the other senators shall terminate
on 31st January 1955.
§ 3. The mandates of the governors and of the deputies
to the Legislative Assemblies, as well as those of the
municipal councilors in the Federal District, elected in ac-
cordance with Art. 11 of this Act, shall expire on the same
date as that of the President of the Republic.
Art. 3 — The Constituent Assembly, after fixing the pe-
cuniary grant of the President and Vice-President of the
Republic, for the first constitutional period, as per Art. 86
of the Constitution, shall consider its mission completed
and shall be separated into the Chamber (of deputies)
and the Senate, which shall initiate the exercise of their
respective legislative powers.
Art, 4 — The Capital of the Union shall be moved to the
central plateau of the country.
§ 1, Within sixty days from the promulgation of the
present Act, the President of the Republic shall appoint a
committee of technicians of recognized skill to proceed with
the study of the prospective site for the new capital,
§ 2. The study referred to in the preceding paragraph
shall be sent up to the National Congress which shall
deliberate thereon and frame a special law, and shall
establish the time limit in which to begin the delimitation
of the area to be incorporated into the domain of the
Union.
§ 3. Upon the completion of the work of demarkation,
the National Congress shall decide upon the date of re-
moval of the capital.
§ 4. The transfer (of the capital) having been made, the
present Federal District shall constitute the State of Guana-
bara.
Art. 5 — Federal intervention in the case of Item No. VI
of Art. 7 of the Constitution, with reference to the States
in arrears with the payment of their funded debt, cannot
be effected earlier than two years from the date of pro-
mulgation of this Act.
Art. 6 — Within three years from the promulgation of
this Act. the States shall undertake, by mutual agreement,
the remarkation of their boundaries, being permitted, for
this purpose, to make alterations and compensations of
areas in accordance with the natural features of the terrain,
administrative conveniences and the convenience of the
frontier populations.
§ 1. If the States interested so request, the Government
of the Union shall entrust the work of demarkation to the
Geographical Service of the Army.
§ 2. If such States do not comply with the requirements
of this article, the Federal Senate shall deliberate with
respect thereto, without prejudice to the competence estab-
lished by Art. 101, No. 1, letter e) of the Constitution.
Art. 7 — The cattle ranches belonging to the domain of
the Union, situated in the territory of the state of Piaui,
and remaining from confiscation of the Jesuits during the
colonial period, shall become the property of that State.
Art. 8 — The present Territories of Iguacu and Ponta
Pora are hereby declared extinct, their respective areas
returning to the States from which they were dismembered.
Sole Paragraph — The judges and, when enjoying stability
in office, the members of the Attorney General's Office in
the Territories now extinct, shall continue on the available
list, with pay, until able to be utilized in federal or state
posts, the nature of which, as well as the corresponding
remuneration, may be compatible with those which they
were occupying at the date of the promulgation of this Act.
Art. 9 — The Territory of Acre shall be raised to the
category of a State, with the name of State of Acre, as
scon as its revenues become equal to those of the State
which presently brings in the lowest return.
Art. 10 — The provisions of Art. 56 of the Constitution
do not apply to the Territory of Fernando de Noronha.
Art. 11 — On the first Sunday after one hundred and
twenty days, counted from the promulgation of this Act,
there shall take place, in each State, the election of the
Governor and of the Deputies to the Legislative Assemblies,
which, at the beginning, shall have a constituent function.
§ 1. In the first election, the number of deputies to the
State Assemblies shall be as follows: Amazonas, thirty;
Pard, thirty-seven; Maranhao, thirty-six; Piauf, thirty-two;
Ceara, forty-five; Rio Grande do Norte, thirty-two; Parafba.
thirty-seven; Pernambuco, fifty-five; Alagoas, thirty-five;
Sergipe, thirty-two; Bahia, sixty; Espfrito Santo, thirty-two;
Rio de Janeiro, fifty-four; Sao Paulo, seventy-five; Parana,
thirty-seven; Santa Catarina, thirty-seven; Rio Grande do
Sul, fifty-five; Minas Gerais, seventy-two; Golds, thirty-two
and Mato Grosso, thirty.
20
§ 2. Elections shall be held on the same date:
I — in the States and in the Federal District;
a) for the third Senatorial seat and the alternates as
prescribed by Art. 60, paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of the Con-
stitution;
b) for the party alternates of the Senators elected on
2nd December 1945, if, in respect of these, no vacancy has
taken place;
II — for the federal deputies, to complete the requisite
number in those States where the number of representatives
to the Chamber of Deputies may not correspond to that
established in the Constitution, taking as a basis the last
official estimate of the Institute of Geography and Statistics;
III — for one federal deputy in the Territories, Acre and
Fernando de Noronha being excepted;
IV — for fifty municipal councillors in the Federal District;
V — for the completion of existing vacancies, or any
which may occur, up to thirty days before the poll, in the
respective electoral zones, and for the alternates them-
selves in the case of Senators.
§ 3. In the elections referred to in this article, the
political parties, in each State, may enter two candidates
more than the number of deputies to be elected to the
Federal Chamber. The successful alternates in the election
shall substitute those who were elected in the terms of
Paragraph 2, in the cases mentioned in the Constitution
and in the law, as also those, of the same political party,
whose list of alternates may have become exhausted.
§ 4. The entry of the same candidate for more than one
State shall not be permitted.
§ 5. The Electoral High Court shall take steps to ensure
compliance with this article and its preceding paragraphs.
In the exercise of this prerogative, the same Court shall
fix, in accordance with official statistical information, the
number of new seats in the federal representation, taking
into account the criterion established in Art. 58 of the Con-
stitution and its two paragraphs.
§ 6. The mandate of least duration shall be that of the
third senator. If more than one senator be elected by the
same state or by the Federal District, the mandate of longest
duration shall be that of the one receiving the most votes.
§ 7. In the elections referred to in this article, the only
disqualifications shall be:
I — for governor :
a) the Ministers of State who may have been in office
during three months prior to the election;
b) those who, up to eighteen months before the elec-
tion, may have exercised the office of President of the
Republic or, in the respective State, even if only in an acting
capacity, that of Governor or Interventor; and also the
secretaries of States, commanders of military zones, chiefs
and commanders of police, magistrates and the head of the
Attorney General's Office, who may have been engaged
in these functions at any time during the two months im-
mediately preceding the election;
II — for Federal Senators and Deputies and xheir respec-
tive alternates, those who, up to six months prior to the
election, may have exercised the office of Governor or
Interventor in the respective State, and the other authori-
ties referred to in No. I who may have been occupying
these posts at any time during the two months immediately
preceding the election;
III — for deputies to the State Assemblies, the authorities
referred to in No. I letters a) and b) (second part) who
may have been occupying these posts at any time during
the two months immediately preceding the election;
IV — for Councillors to the Municipal Chamber of the
Federal District, the Mayor and the authorities referred to
in No. I, letters a) and b) (second part), who may have
been occupying these posts at any time during the two
months immediately preceding the election.
§ 8. After receiving their diplomas, the deputies to the
State Assemblies shall meet, within ten days, presided over
by the President of the Regional Electoral Court, by con-
vocation of the latter, who shall set in motion the election
of the Board.
§ 9. Any State which, up to four months after the in-
stallation of its Assembly, may not have decreed its Con-
stitution, shall, by deliberation of the National Congress,
be submitted to the Constitution of whichever other State
may be deemed most suitable, until it has been amended
by the process determined therein.
Art. 12 — Pending the promulgation of the State Consti-
tutions and in the case of the Federal District, the decree-
ing of its Organic Law, the States and Municipal districts
shall be administered in accordance with the legislation
in force at the date of promulgating this Act.
Sole Paragraph — Within ten days counted from their
official publication, any citizen may appeal to the President
of the Republic from the Acts of the Interventors; and. on
the same terms, to the Interventor, from the acts of the
Municipal Mayors.
Art. 13 — The discrimination of revenues established in
Arts. 19 to 21 and 29 of the Federal Constitution shall come
into force on January 1st. 1948, in so far as it modifies the
previous regime.
§ 1. The States which levy exportation taxes higher than
the limit allowed by Art. 19, No. V, shall reduce the excess
gradually, within a period of four years, except in the case
referred to in Paragraph 6 of that article,
§ 2. As from 1948, the following shall be made gradu-
ally effective:
I — in the course of two years, the requirements of Art.
15, paragraph 4, whereby the Union shall hand over to
the Municipal districts half of the quota in the first year
and the entire quota in the second year;
II — in the course of four years, the abolition of any
taxes which, under the Constitution, may not be included
in the powers of the governments collecting them at present;
III — in the course of ten years, the provisions contained
in Art. 20 of the Constitution.
§ 3. The federal or state law, in accordance with the
case, may establish a shorter period for the fulfilment of
the provisions indicated in the previous paragraphs.
Art. 14 — For composition of the Federal Court of Ap-
peals, in the part constituted by magistrates, the Federal
Supreme Court shall indicate, in order that they may be
appointed by the President of the Republic, up to three
of the sectional judges and substitutes of the extinct Federal
Justice, if they meet the requirements of Art. 99 of the
Constitution. The indication shall be made, whenever pos-
sible, in a duplicate list for each case.
§ 1. Immediately after the termination of the period
mentioned in Art. 3, the National Congress shall fix, by
law, the salaries of the Judges of the Federal Court of
Appeals; and, within thirty days from sanctioning or pro-
mulgating the same law, the President of the Republic
shall make the respective appointments.
§ 2. When the Court has been installed, it shall elaborate
its internal regime and shall provide for the organization
of its secretariat, registry offices, and other services, and
shall propose to the National Congress the creation of the
Administrative offices, and the fixing of the respective
remunerations (Constitution, Art. 97, No. II).
§ 3. Pending the functioning of the Federal Court of
Appeals, the Federal Supreme Court shall continue to
judge all the cases which come within its province, in the
terms of the previous legislation.
§ 4. When the law provided for in § 1 has been voted,
the Federal Supreme Courts shall forward to the Federal
Court of Appeals all cases incumbent upon the latter which
do not bear the visa of the respective reporter.
21
§ 5. The embargos against the sentences pronounced by
the Federal Supreme Court shall continue to be prosecuted
and judged by that Court.
Art. 15 — Within ten days counted from the promulga-
tion of this Act, the Electoral Court of Justice shall be
organized in the terms of Heading I, Chapter IV, Section V
of the Constitution.
§ 1. For the composition of the Electoral Superior Court,
the Tribunal of Justice of the Federal District shall elect,
by secret ballot, from amongst its judges, one effective
member, as well as two provisional members, who shall
continue in office until such time as the Federal Court of
Appeals may comply with the requirement (of Art. 110,
No. I, letter b) of the Constitution.
§ 2. After the Electoral Courts have been installed, they
shall proceed in the manner indicated in Paragraph 2 of
Art. 14 of this Act.
§ 3. In the filling of offices of the Secretariats of the
Electoral Supreme Courts and of the Regional Electoral
Courts, the effective office holders of the tribunals extin-
guished on November 10, 1937, shall be utilized, if they
should still be in the active service of the Union, and
request it; and to complete the respective rosters, the per-
sonnel which at present makes up the secretariats of the
same tribunals shall be utilized.
§ 4. Until the secretariats of these Tribunals have been
definitely organized, the personnel to which the final sent-
ence of paragraph 3 of this Article alludes, shall continue
in office.
Art. 16 — As from January 1st, 1947, the magistrates of
the Federal District and of the States shall begin to receive
the emoluments fixed in accordance with what the Consti-
tution establishes.
Art. 17 — The present Maritime Court shall continue with
the organization and the prerogatives attributed to it by
current legislation, until such time as the federal law may
deal with this matter in accordance with the terms of the
Constitution.
Art. 18 — Brazilians who, in the last war, rendered
military service to the Allied Nations, even without the per-
mission of the Brazilian government, shall not forfeit their
nationality, nor shall minors who, in the same manner, may
have served other Nations.
Sole Paragraph — The present employees of the Union,
the States, and the Municipal districts, who formed part of
the Brazilian expeditionary forces, are considered to have
stability of employment.
Art. 19 — Those who may have acquired Brazilian na-
tionality during the validity of previous Constitutions and
may have exercised any elective mandate whatsoever, is
eligible to occupy posts as representative of the people,
excepting those of President and Vice-President of the
Republic and of State Governor.
Art. 20 — The precept of the sole paragraph of Art. 155
of the Constitution does not apply to naturalized Brazilians
who, on the date of this Act, were exercising the professions
to which the said paragraph refers.
Art. 21— The utilization of waterfalls, already being
used for industrial purposes on July 16, 1934 (Translator's
note: the date of the penultimate Constitution) and, by the
same token, the exploitation of mines in production, even
if temporarily suspended, does not depend upon conces-
sion or authorization; but such utilization and exploitation
remain subject to the regulations and to the revision of
contracts, as prescribed by law.
Art. 22 — The provisions of Art. 182, paragraph 1 of the
Constitution do not prejudice concessions which may have
been granted prior to this Act and which are maintained
or re-established.
Art. 23 — The present temporary employees of the Union,
of the States, and the Municipalities having at least five
years of service, shall automatically be made effective on
the date of promulgation of this Act; and the present super-
numeraries who may be exercising a function of permanent
character for more than five years, or (who may be exer-
cising the function) by virtue of a contest or test of ability,
shall be placed on the same level as officeholders for pur-
poses of stability, retirement, leave, availability, and vaca-
tions.
Sole Paragraph — The provisions of this article do not
apply to:
I — those who may temporarily exercise life-tenure offices
considered as such in the Constitution;
II — those who may hold office for the filling of which a
contest may have been held with registration closed on
the date of the promulgation of this Act;
III — those who may have been disqualified in a contest
for the post occupied.
Art. 24 — The employees who, in accordance with the
legislation then in force, accumulated technical and scien-
tific teaching posts and who forfeited their effective em-
ployment by virtue of the prohibition to retain more than
one post, established in the Charter of November 10th,
1937 and Decree-Law No. 24 of December 1st, of the same
year, are hereby deemed to be on the available list, with
pay, until such time as their services may be utilized again,
without, however, any right to salary prior to the date of
promulgation of this Act.
Sole Paragraph — The retirement benefits are hereby
restored to those who lost them by virtue of the Decree
mentioned, but also, without any right to salary prior to
the date of promulgation of this Act.
Art. 25 — The employees of the Secretariats of the Legis-
lative Chambers are assured the right to receive additional
bonuses for the time they are in the public service.
Art. 26 — The Chair Officers of the Constituent Assembly
shall issue diplomas of effective appointment to the tempo-
rary employees in the Secretariats of the Federal Senate
and the Chamber of Deputies occupying vacant offices, who
up to September 3rd, 1946, rendered services during the
work of drawing up the Constitution.
Sole Paragraph — Those serving in an acting capacity
up to the date mentioned and not benefited by the pro-
visions of this Article, shall be utilized to fill the first
vacancies which may occur.
Art. 27 — During the period of fifteen years, counted
from the installation of the Constituent Assembly, the real
estate acquired for his residence by a journalist, who
possesses no other, shall be exempt from the transfer tax,
and, as long as it serves the purpose envisioned in this
article, from the respective buildings tax.
Sole Paragraph — For the effects of this article, a jour-
nalist shall be considered as one who proves that he is in
the exercise of the profession, in accordance with legisla-
tion in force, or has been pensioned therein.
Art. 28 — Amnesty is hereby granted to all citizens con-
sidered to be deserters or to have failed to present them-
selves for military service up to the date of promulgation
of this Act, being likewise extensive to any workers who
have undergone disciplinary punishment as a consequence
of strikes or labour disputes.
Art. 29 — The Federal Government is obligated, within
a period of twenty years, counted from the date of pro-
mulgation of this Constitution to prepare and execute a
scheme for the total utilization of the economic possibilities
of the River Sao Francisco and its tributaries, in which it
shall apply, annually, an amount not less than one percent
of its revenue from taxes.
22
Art. 30 — Those, who availed themselves of the right
to present claims, instituted by the sole paragraph of Art,
18 of the Transitory Provisions of the Constitution of July
16th, 1934, are assured the right to plead before the
Judicial Power for recognition of their rights, except with
respect to remuneration in arrears, and all prescriptions
shall be forgiven in this manner, providing that the follow-
ing requirements are fulfilled:
I — to have obtained in the respective cases, a favorable
and final opinion of the Revisory Commission, referred to
in Decree No. 254 of August 1st, 1935;
II — the Executive Power not having acted in accord-
ance with opinion of the Revisory Committee, with the
object of restoring the rights of the claimants.
Translator's note. The Sole Paragraph of Art. 18 of the
Transitory Provisions of the Constitution of 16th July 1934
read as follows:
"Sole Paragraph — The President of the Republic shall
organize at an opportune moment, one or various commit-
tees presided over by federal judges, with life-appointments
who, appraising, without special legal formality, the claims
of the interested parties, shall issue a considered opinion
as to the convenience of their services being utilized in
the posts or public functions, which they held or dis-
charged and from which they may have been removed
by the Provisional Government, or its Delegates, or in
other corresponding posts, as soon as possible, payment
of salaries in arrears or of any indemnifications whatso-
ever being in every case excluded".
Art. 31 — The incorporation into the patrimony of the
Union of the goods given in guarantee, by those benefited
by the financing of the cotton crops, from the 1942 crop to
the 1945 and 1946 crops, shall not be liable to judicial
consideration.
Art. 32 — Within two years, counted from the promulga-
tion of this Act, the Union shall conclude the (construction
of) Rio-Northeast highway.
Art. 33 — The Government shall cause to be erected in
the Capital of the Republic, a monument to Rui Barbosa,
in consecration of his services to the Fatherland, to liberty
and to justice.
Art. 34 — The honors of Marshal of the Brazilian army
are hereby conferred upon General of Division Joao Batista
Mascarenhas de Morals, Commander of the Brazilian Ex-
peditionary Forces in the last war.
Art. 35 — The Government shall appoint a committee of
professors, writers and journalists in order that they may
give their opinion on the denomination of the national
language.
Art. 36 — This Act shall be promulgated by the Chair
Officers of the Constituent Assembly in the form prescribed
by Art. 218 of the Constitution.
Rio de Janeiro, 18th September 1946
Note: The signatories to the above Act were the same
as those who signed the Constitution.
23
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