CONSTITUTION
Constitutional text of October 5, 1988, with the alterations introduced by the Constitutional Amendments No. 1/92 through 18/98 and by the Revision Constitutional Amendments No. 1/94 through 6/94.
Translated and revised by:
Istvan Vajda
Patrícia de Queiroz Carvalho Zimbres
Vanira Tavares de Souza.The Federal Senate
Brasilia - 1998
The Federal Senate
Directing Board for the 1997/1998 Biennium
President
ANTONIO CARLOS MAGALHÃES
First Vice-President
GERALDO MELO
Substitute Secretaries
EMILIA FERNANDES
LÚDIO COELHO
JOEL DE HOLLANDA
MARLUCE PINTO
Second Vice-President
JÚNIA MARISE
First Secretary
RONALDO CUNHA LIMA
Second Secretary
CARLOS PATROCINIO
Third Secretary
FLAVIANO MELO
Fourth Secretary
LUCÍDIO PORTELLA.
General Director:
Agaciel da Silva Maia
General Secretary of the Directing Board:
Raimundo Carreiro Silva
Special Secretariat for Printing and Publishing:
Claudionor Moura Nunes
Director of the Undersecretariat of Technical Publications:
Raimundo Pontes Cunha Neto
Electronic layout and pagination: Angelina Almeida Silva, Heloisa Solino Evelin, Paulo
Henrique Ferreira Nunes
Cover: Cosme Rocha
Printing: Special Secretariat for Printing and Publishing
TRANSLATION HISTORY:
Original text, Constitutional Amendments No. 1/92 through No. 9/95, and Revision Constitutional Amendments No. 1/94 through No. 6/94: translated by Istvan Vajda, Patrícia de Queiroz Carvalho Zimbres, Vanira Tavares de Souza.
Constitutional Amendments No. 10/96 through No. 15/96: translated by Istvan Vajda. Constitutional Amendments No. 16/97 and No. 18/98: translated by Vanira Tavares de Souza. Translation Service of the Secretariat of Information and Documentation of the Federal Senate.
Brasil. Constituição (1988).
Constitution 1988 / Translated and revised by Istvan Vajda, Patrícia de Queiroz
Carvalho Zimbres, Vanira Tavares de Souza. - 1998 rev. ed. - Brasília : Senado
Federal, Subsecretaria de Edições Técnicas, 1998.
221 p.
Dado de edição retirado da capa.
Constitutional text of October 5, 1988, with the alterations introduced by the Constitutional Amendments no. 1/92 through 17/97 and by the Revision Constitutional Amendments no. 1 through 6/94.
1. Constituição - Brasil (1988). 2. Emenda constitucional - Brasil. 3. Revisão
Constitucional - Brasil. I. Título.
CDD 342.023
CDDir 341.2481
CDU 342.4(81) '1988'.
ISBN: 85-7018-156-6
The alterations deriving from the Constitutional Amendments No. 1/92 through No. 18/98 are printed in italics and the number of the altering amendment is indicated at the foot of the page on which the altered article begins.
CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL.
PREAMBLE
We, the representatives of the Brazilian People, convened in the National Constituent Assembly to institute a democratic state for the purpose of ensuring the exercise of social and individual rights, W liberty, security, well-being, development, equality and justice as supreme values of a fraternal, pluralist and unprejudiced society, founded on social harmony and committed, in the internal and international orders, to the peaceful settlement of disputes, promulgate, under the protection of God, this CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL
TITLE I
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
ARTICLE 1.- The Federative Republic of Brazil, formed by the indissoluble union of the states and municipalities and of the Federal District, is a legal democratic state and is founded on:
I - sovereignty;
II - citizenship;
III - the dignity of the human person;
IV - the social values of labour and of the free enterprise;
V - political pluralism.
Sole paragraph - All power emanates from the people, who exercise it by means of elected representatives or directly, as provided by this Constitution.
ARTICLE 2.- The Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial, independent and harmonious among themselves, are the powers of the Union.
ARTICLE 3.- The fundamental objectives of the Federative Republic of Brazil are:
I - to build a free, just and solidary society;
II - to guarantee national development;
III - to eradicate poverty and substandard living conditions and to reduce social and regional inequalities;
IV - to promote the well-being of all, without prejudice as to origin, race, sex, colour, age and any other forms of discrimination.
ARTICLE 4.- The international relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil are governed by the following principles:
I - national independence;
II - prevalence of human rights;
III - self-determination of the peoples;
IV - non-intervention;
V - equality among the states;
VI - defense of peace;
VII - peaceful settlement of conflicts;
VIII - repudiation of terrorism and racism;
IX - cooperation among peoples for the progress of mankind;
X - granting of political asylum.
Sole paragraph - The Federative Republic of Brazil shall seek the economic, political, social and cultural integration of the peoples of Latin America, viewing the formation of a Latin-American community of nations.
TITLE II
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES
CHAPTER I
Individual And Collective Rights And Duties
ARTICLE 5.- All persons are equal before the law, without any distinction whatsoever, Brazilians and foreigners residing in the country being ensured of inviolability of the right to life, to liberty, to equality, to security and to property, on the following terms:
I - men and women have equal rights and duties under the terms of this Constitution;
II - no one shall be obliged to do or refrain from doing something except by virtue of law;
III - no one shall be submitted to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment;
IV - the expression of thought is free, and anonymity is forbidden;
V - the right of reply is ensured, in proportion to the offense, as well as compensation for property or moral damages or for damages to the image;
VI - freedom of conscience and of belief is inviolable, the free exercise of religious cults being ensured and, under the terms of the law, the protection of places of worship and their rites being guaranteed;
VII - under the terms of the law, the rendering of religious assistance in civil and military establishments of collective confinement is ensured;
VIII - no one shall be deprived of any rights by reason of religious belief or philosophical or political conviction, unless he invokes it to exempt himself from a legal obligation required of all and refuses to perform an alternative obligation established by law;
IX - the expression of intellectual, artistic, scientific, and communications activities is free, independently of censorship or license;
X - the privacy, private life, honour and image of persons are inviolable, and the right to compensation for property or moral damages resulting from their violation is ensured;
XI - the home is the inviolable refuge of the individual, and no one may enter therein without the consent of the dweller, except in the event of flagrante delicto or disaster, or to give help, or, during the day, by court order;
XII - the secrecy of correspondence and of telegraphic, data and telephone communications is inviolable, except, in the latter case, by court order, in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law for the purposes of criminal investigation or criminal procedural finding of facts;
XIII - the practice of any work, trade or profession is free, observing the professional qualifications which the law shall establish;
XIV - access to information is ensured to everyone and the confidentiality of the source shall be safeguarded, whenever necessary to the professional activity;
XV - locomotion within the national territory is free in time of peace, and any person may, under the terms of the law, enter it, remain therein or leave it with his assets;
XVI - all persons may hold peaceful meetings, without weapons, in places open to the public, regardless of authorization provided that they do not frustrate another meeting previously called for the same place, subject only to prior notice to the competent authority;
XVII - freedom of association for lawful purposes is fully guaranteed, any paramilitary association being forbidden;
XVIII - the creation of associations and, under the terms of the law, that of cooperatives is not subject to authorization, and State interference in their operation is forbidden;
XIX - associations may only be compulsorily dissolved or have their activities suspended by a judicial decision, and a final and unappealable decision is required in the first case;
XX - no one shall be compelled to become associated or to remain associated;
XXI - when expressly authorized, associations shall have the legitimacy to represent their members either judicially or extrajudicially;
XXII - the right of property is guaranteed;
XXIII - property shall observe its social function;
XXIV - the law shall establish the procedure for expropriation for public necessity or use, or for social interest, with fair and previous pecuniary compensation, except for the cases provided in this Constitution;
XXV - in case of imminent public danger, the competent authority may make use of private property, provided that, in case of damage, subsequent compensation is ensured to the owner;
XXVI - the small rural property, as defined by law, provided that it is exploited by the family, shall not be subject to attachment for the payment of debts incurred by reason of its productive activities, and the law shall establish the means to finance its development;
XXVII - the exclusive right of use, publication or reproduction of works rests upon their authors and is transmissible to their heirs for the time the law shall establish;
XXVIII - under the terms of the law, the following are ensured:
a) protection of individual participation in collective works and of reproduction of the human image and voice, sports activities included;
b) the right to authors, interpreters and respective unions and associations to monitor the economic exploitation of the works which they create or in which they participate;
XXIX - the law shall ensure the authors of industrial inventions of a temporary privilege for their use, as well as protection of industrial creations, property of trademarks, names of companies and other distinctive signs, viewing the social interest and the technological and economic development of the country;
XXX - the right to inheritance is guaranteed;
XXXI - succession to the estate of foreigners which is located in Brazil shall be regulated by the Brazilian law in favour of the Brazilian spouse or children, whenever the personal law of the deceased is not more favourable to them;
XXXII - the State shall provide, as set forth by law, for the defense of consumers;
XXXIII - all persons have the right to receive, from the public agencies, information of private interest to such persons, or of collective or general interest, which shall be provided within the period established by law, subject to liability, except for the information whose secrecy is essential to the security of society and of the State;
XXXIV - the following are ensured to everyone, without any payment of fees:
a) the right to petition the Government in defense of rights or against illegal acts or abuse of power;
b) the obtaining of certificates from government offices, for the defense of rights and clarification of situations of personal interest;
XXXV - the law shall not exclude any injury or threat to a right from the consideration of the Judicial Power;
XXXVI - the law shall not injure the vested right, the perfect juridical act and the res judicata;
XXXVII - there shall be no exceptional tribunal or court;
XXXVIII - the institution of the jury is recognized, according to the organization which the law shall establish, and the following are ensured:
a) full defense;
b) secrecy of voting;
c) sovereignty of verdicts;
d) power to judge willful crimes against life;
XXXIX - there is no crime without a previous law to define it, nor a punishment without a previous legal commination;
XL - penal law shall not be retroactive, except to benefit the defendant;
XLI - the law shall punish any discrimination which may attempt against fundamental rights and liberties;
XLII - the practice of racism is a non-bailable crime, with no limitation, subject to the penalty of confinement, under the terms of the law;
XLIII - the practice of torture, the illicit traffic of narcotics and related drugs, as well as terrorism, and crimes defined as heinous crimes shall be considered by law as non-bailable and not subject to grace or amnesty, and their principals, agents and those who omit themselves while being able to avoid such crimes shall be held liable;
XLIV - the action of armed groups, either civil or military, against the constitutional order and the democratic state is a non-bailable crime, with no limitation;
XLV - no punishment shall go beyond the person of the convict, and the obligation to compensate for the damage, as well as the decreeing of loss of assets may, under the terms of the law, be extended to the successors and executed against them, up to the limit of the value of the assets transferred;
XLVI - the law shall regulate the individualization of punishment and shall adopt the following, among others:
a) deprivation or restriction of freedom;
b) loss of assets;
c) fine;
d) alternative rendering of social service;
e) suspension or deprivation of rights;
XLVII - there shall be no punishment:
a) of death, save in case of declared war, under the terms of article 84, XIX;
b) of life imprisonment;
c) of hard labour;
d) of banishment;
e) which is cruel;
XLVIII - the sentence shall be served in separate establishments, according to the nature of the offense, the age and the sex of the convict;
XLIX - prisoners are ensured of respect to their physical and moral integrity;
L - female prisoners shall be ensured of adequate conditions to stay with their children during the nursing period;
LI - no Brazilian shall be extradited, except the naturalized ones in the case of a common crime committed before naturalization, or in the case there is sufficient evidence of participation in the illicit traffic of narcotics and related drugs, under the terms of the law;
LII - extradiction of a foreigner on the basis of political or ideological crime shall not be granted;
LIII - no one shall undergo legal proceeding or sentencing save by the competent authority;
LIV - no one shall be deprived of freedom or of his assets without the due process of law;
LV - litigants, in judicial or administrative processes, as well as defendants in general are ensured of the adversary system and of full defense, with the means and resources inherent to it;
LVI - evidence obtained through illicit means are unacceptable in the process;
LVII - no one shall be considered guilty before the issuing of a final and unappealable penal sentence;
LVIII - no one who has undergone civil identification shall be submitted to criminal identification, save in the cases provided by law;
LIX - private prosecution in the cases of crimes subject to public prosecution shall be admitted, whenever the latter is not filed within the period established by law;
LX - the law may only restrict the publicity of procedural acts when the defense of privacy or the social interest require it;
LXI - no one shall be arrested unless in flagrante delicto or by a written and justified order of a competent judicial authority, save in the cases of military transgression or specific military crime, as defined in law;
LXII - the arrest of any person as well as the place where he is being held shall be immediately informed to the competent judge and to the family of the person arrested or to the person indicated by him;
LXIII - the arrested person shall be informed of his rights, among which the right to remain silent, and he shall be ensured of assistance by his family and a lawyer;
LXIV - the arrested person is entitled to identification of those responsible for his arrest or for his police questioning;
LXV - illegal arrest shall be immediately remitted by the judicial authority;
LXVI - no one shall be taken to prison or held therein, when the law admits release on own recognizance, subject or not to bail;
LXVII - there shall be no civil imprisonment for indebtedness except in the case of a person responsible for voluntary and inexcusable default of alimony obligation and in the case of an unfaithful trustee;
LXVIII - habeas corpus shall be granted whenever a person suffers or is in danger of suffering violence or coercion against his freedom of locomotion, on account of illegal actions or abuse of power;
LXIX - a writ of mandamus shall be issued to protect a clear and perfect right, not covered by habeas corpus or habeas data, whenever the party responsible for the illegal actions or abuse of power is a public official or an agent of a corporate legal entity exercising duties of the Government;
LXX - a collective writ of mandamus may be filed by:
a) a political party represented in the National Congress;
b) a union, a professional association or an association legally constituted and in operation for at least one year, to defend the interests of its members or associates;
LXXI - a writ of injunction shall be granted whenever the absence of a regulatory provision disables the exercise of constitutional rights and liberties, as well as the prerogatives inherent to nationality, sovereignty and citizenship;
LXXII - habeas data shall be granted:
a) to ensure the knowledge of information related to the person of the petitioner, contained in records or data banks of government agencies or of agencies of a public character;
b) for the correction of data, when the petitioner does not prefer to do so through a confidential process, either judicial or administrative;
LXXIII - any citizen is a legitimate party to file a people's legal action with a view to nullifying an act injurious to the public property or to the property of an entity in which the State participates, to the administrative morality, to the environment and to the historic and cultural heritage, and the author shall, save in the case of proven bad faith, be exempt from judicial costs and from the burden of defeat;
LXXIV - the State shall provide full and free-of-charge legal assistance to all who prove insufficiency of funds;
LXXV - the State shall compensate a convict for judicial error, as well as a person who remains imprisoned for a period longer than the one established by the sentence;
LXXVI - for all who are acknowledgedly poor, the following is free of charge, under the terms of the law:
a) civil birth certificate;
b) death certificate;
LXXVII - habeas corpus and habeas data proceedings and, under the terms of the law, the acts necessary to the exercise of citizenship are free of charge;
Paragraph 1 - The provisions defining fundamental rights and guarantees are immediately applicable.
Paragraph 2 - The rights and guarantees expressed in this Constitution do not exclude others deriving from the regime and from the principles adopted by it, or from the international treaties in which the Federative Republic of Brazil is a party.
CHAPTER II
Social Rights
ARTICLE 6.- Education, health, work, leisure, security, social security, protection of motherhood and childhood, and assistance to the destitute, are social rights, as set forth by this Constitution.
ARTICLE 7.- The following are rights of urban and rural workers, among others that aim to improve their social conditions:
I - employment protected against arbitrary dismissal or against dismissal without just cause, in accordance with a supplementary law which shall establish severance-pay, among other rights;
II - unemployment insurance, in the event of involuntary unemployment;
III - severance-pay fund;
IV - nationally unified minimum wage, established by law, capable of satisfying their basic living needs and those of their families with housing, food, education, health, leisure, clothing, hygiene, transportation and social security, with periodical adjustments to maintain its purchasing power, it being forbidden to use it as an index for any purpose;
V - a salary floor in proportion to the extent and complexity of the work;
VI - irreducibility of the wages, except when established in collective agreement or covenant;
VII - guarantee of wages never below the minimum one, for those receiving variable pay;
VIII - year-end one-salary bonus based on the full pay or on the amount of the pension;
IX - payrate for night-shift work higher than that for daytime work;
X - wage protection, as provided by law, with felonious withholding of wages being a crime;
XI - participation in the profits or results, independent of wages, and, exceptionally, participation in the management of the company, as defined by law;
XII - family allowance for their dependents;
XIII - normal working hours not exceeding eight hours per day and forty-four hours per week, with the option of compensating working hours and reducing the length of the workday through an agreement or a collective bargaining covenant;
XIV - a workday of six hours for work carried out in continuous shifts, unless otherwise established by collective bargaining;
XV - paid weekly leave, preferably on Sundays;
XVI - rate of pay for overtime at least fifty per cent higher than that of normal work;
XVII - annual vacation with remuneration at least one third higher than the normal salary;
XVIII - maternity leave without loss of job and of salary, for a period of one hundred and twenty days;
XIX - paternity leave, under the terms established by law;
XX - protection of the labour market for women through specific incentives, as provided by law;
XXI - advance notice of dismissal in proportion to the length of service, of at least thirty days, as provided by law;
XXII - reduction of employment related risks by means of health, hygiene and safety rules;
XXIII - additional remuneration for strenuous, unhealthy or dangerous work, as established by law;
XXIV - retirement pension;
XXV - free assistance for children and dependents from birth to six years of age, in day-care centres and pre-school facilities;
XXVI - recognition of collective bargaining agreements and covenants;
XXVII - protection on account of automation, as established by law;
XXVIII - occupational accident insurance, to be paid for by the employer, without excluding the employer's liability for indemnity in the event of malice or fault;
XXIX - legal action with respect to credits arising from employment relationships with a limitation of:
a) five years for urban workers, up to the limit of two years after the end of the employment contract;
b) up to two years after the end of the contract for rural workers;
XXX - prohibition of any difference in wages, in the performance of duties and in hiring criteria by reason of sex, age, colour or marital status;
XXXI - prohibition of any discrimination with respect to wages and hiring criteria of handicapped workers;
XXXII - prohibition of any distinction between manual, technical and intellectual work or among the respective professionals;
XXXIII - prohibition of night, dangerous or unhealthy work for minors under eighteen years of age, and of any work for minors under fourteen years of age, except as an apprentice;
XXXIV - equal rights for workers with a permanent employment bond and for sporadic workers. Sole paragraph - The category of domestic servants is ensured of the rights set forth in items IV, VI, VIII, XV, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXI and XXIV, as well as of integration in the social security system.
ARTICLE 8.- Professional or union association is free, with regard for the following:
I - the law may not require authorization of the State for a union to be founded, except for authorization for registration with the competent agency, it being forbidden to the Government the interference and the intervention in the union;
II - it is forbidden to create more than one union, at any level, representing a professional or economic category, in the same territorial base, which shall be defined by the workers or employers concerned, which base may not cover less than the area of one municipality;
III - it falls to the union to defend the collective or individual rights and interests of the category, including legal or administrative disputes;
IV - the general assembly shall establish the contribution which, in the case of a professional category, shall be discounted from the payroll, to support the confederative system of the respective union representation, regardless of the contribution set forth by law;
V - no one shall be required to join or to remain a member of a union;
VI - the collective labour bargainings must be held with the participation of unions;
VII - retired members shall be entitled to vote and be voted on in unions;
VIII - the dismissal of a unionised employee is forbidden from the moment of the registration of his candidacy to a position of union direction or representation and, if elected, even if as a substitute, up to one year after the end of his term in office, unless he commits a serious fault as established by law.
Sole paragraph - The provisions of this article apply to the organization of rural unions and those of fishing communities, with due regard for the conditions established by law.
ARTICLE 9.- The right to strike is guaranteed, it being the competence of the workers to decide on the advisability of exercising it and on the interests to be defended thereby.
Paragraph 1 - The law shall define the essential services or activities and shall provide with respect to the satisfaction of the community's undelayable needs.
Paragraph 2 - The abuses committed shall subject those responsible to the penalties of the law.
ARTICLE 10.- The participation of workers and employers is ensured in the collegiate bodies of government agencies in which their professional or social security interests are subject of discussion and resolution.
ARTICLE 11.- It is ensured, in companies with more than 200 employees, the election of a representative of the employees for the exclusive purpose of furthering direct negotiations with the employers.
CHAPTER III
Nationality
ARTICLE 12.- The following are Brazilians:
I - by birth:
a) those born in the Federative Republic of Brazil, even if of foreign parents, provided that they are not at the service of their country;
b) those born abroad, of a Brazilian father or a Brazilian mother, provided that either of them is at the service of the Federative Republic of Brazil;
c) those born abroad, of a Brazilian father or a Brazilian mother, provided that they come to reside in the Federative Republic of Brazil and opt for the Brazilian nationality at any time;
II - naturalized:
a) those who, as set forth by law, acquire Brazilian nationality, it being the only requirement for persons originating from Portuguese-speaking countries the residence for one uninterrupted year and good moral repute;
b) foreigners of any nationality, resident in the Federative Republic of Brazil for over fifteen uninterrupted years and without criminal conviction, provided that they apply for the Brazilian nationality.
Paragraph 1 - The rights inherent to Brazilians shall be attributed to Portuguese citizens with permanent residence in Brazil, if there is reciprocity in favour of Brazilians, except in the cases stated in this Constitution.
Paragraph 2 - The law may not establish any distinction between born and naturalized Brazilians, except in the cases stated in this Constitution.
Paragraph 3 - The following offices are exclusive for born Brazilians:
I - those of President and Vice-President of the Republic;
II - that of President of the Chamber of Deputies;
III - that of President of the Federal Senate;
IV - that of Justice of the Supreme Federal Court;
V - those of the diplomatic career;
VI - that of officer of the Armed Forces.
Paragraph 4 - Loss of nationality shall be declared for a Brazilian who:
I - has his naturalization cancelled by court decision on account of an activity harmful to the national interests;
II - acquires another nationality, save in the cases:
a) of recognition of the original nationality by the foreign law;
b) of imposition of naturalization, under the foreign rules, to the Brazilian resident in a foreign State, as a condition for permanence in its territory, or for the exercise of civil rights.
ARTICLE 13.- Portuguese is the official language of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Paragraph 1 - The national flag, anthem, coat of arms and seal are the symbols of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Paragraph 2 - The states, the Federal District and the municipalities may have symbols of their own.
CHAPTER IV
Political Rights
*ARTICLE 14.- The sovereignty of the people shall be exercised by universal suffrage and by the direct and secret voting, with equal value for all, and, according to the law, by means of:
I - plebiscite;
II - referendum;
III - people's initiative.
Paragraph 1 - Electoral enrollment and voting are:
I - mandatory for persons over eighteen years of age;
II - optional for:
a) the illiterate;
b) those over seventy years of age;
c) those over sixteen and under eighteen years of age.
Paragraph 2 - Foreigners cannot register as voters and neither can conscripts during their period of compulsory military service;
Paragraph 3 - The conditions for eligibility, according to the law, are:
I - the Brazilian nationality;
II - the full exercise of the political rights;
III - the electoral enrollment;
IV - the electoral domicile in the electoral district;
V - the membership in a political party;
VI - the minimum age of:
a) thirty-five years for President and Vice-President of the Republic and Senator;
b) thirty years for Governor and Vice-Governor of a state and of the Federal District;
c) twenty-one years for Federal Deputy, State or District Deputy, Mayor, Vice-Mayor and justice of the peace;
d) eighteen years for City Councilman.
Paragraph 4 - The illiterate and those that cannot be registered as voters are not eligible.
Paragraph 5 - The President of the Republic, the State and Federal District Governors, the Mayors and those who have succeeded or replaced them during their terms of office may be reelected for only one subsequent term.
Paragraph 6 - In order to run for other offices, the President of the Republic, the State and Federal District Governors and the Mayors have to resign from their respective offices at least six months in advance of the election.
Paragraph 7 - The spouse and relatives by blood or marriage, up to the second degree or by adoption, of the President of the Republic, of the Governor of a State or Territory or of the Federal District, of a Mayor or of those who have replaced them within the six months preceding the election, are not eligible in the jurisdiction of the incumbent, unless they already hold an elective office and are candidates for re-election.
Paragraph 8 - A member of the Armed Forces that can be registered as voter is eligible if the following conditions are met:
I - if he has less than ten years of service, he shall have to take leave from military activities;
II - if he has more than ten years of service, he shall be discharged of military duties by his superiors and, if elected, he shall automatically pass into retirement upon the issuing of the official certificate of electoral victory.
Paragraph 9 - In order to protect the administrative probity, morality for the exercise of the office, the previous life of the candidate being considered, and the normality and legitimacy of the elections against the influence of the economic power or of the abuse in the holding of office, position or job in the direct or indirect public administration, a supplementary law shall establish other cases of ineligibility and the periods for such ineligibilities to cease.
Paragraph 10 - The exercise of an elective mandate may be impugned before the Electoral Courts within a period of fifteen days after the date of the issuing of the official certificate of electoral victory, substantiating the suit with evidence of abuse of economic power, corruption or fraud.
Paragraph 11 - The procedure of the suit impugning the office shall be secret, and the plaintiff shall be liable under the law if the suit is reckless or involves manifest bad faith.
(* CA 16/97.)
ARTICLE 15.- Disfranchisement of political rights is forbidden, the loss or suspension of which rights shall apply only in the event of:
I - cancellation of naturalization by a final and unappealable judgement;
II - absolute civil incapacity;
III - final and unappealable criminal sentence, for as long as its effects last;
IV - refusal to comply with an obligation imposed upon everyone or to render an alternative service, according to article 5, VIII;
V - administrative dishonesty, according to article 37, paragraph 4.
*ARTICLE 16.- The law that alters the electoral procedure shall come into force on the date of its publication, and shall not apply to the elections that take place within one year of it being in force.
(* CA 4/93.)
CHAPTER V
Political Parties
ARTICLE 17.- The creation, amalgamation, merger and extinction of political parties is free, with due regard for national sovereignty, the democratic regime, the plurality of political parties, the fundamental rights of the individual, and observing the following precepts:
I - national character;
II - prohibition from receiving financial assistance from a foreign entity or government or from subordination to same;
III - rendering of accounts to the Electoral Courts;
IV - operation in the National Congress in accordance with the law.
Paragraph 1 - Political parties are ensured of autonomy to define their internal structure, organization and operation, and their by-laws shall establish rules of party loyalty and discipline.
Paragraph 2 - After acquiring corporate legal status under civil law, political parties shall register their by-laws at the Superior Electoral Court.
Paragraph 3 - Political parties are entitled to monies from the party fund and to free-of-charge access to radio and television, as established by law.
Paragraph 4 - Political parties are forbidden to use paramilitary organizations.
TITLE III
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE
CHAPTER I
The Political and Administrative Organization
*ARTICLE 18.- The political and administrative organization of the Federative Republic of Brazil comprises the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, all of them autonomous, as this Constitution provides.
Paragraph 1 - Brasília is the federal capital.
Paragraph 2 - The federal territories are part of the Union and their establishment, transformation into states or reintegration into the state of origin shall be regulated by a supplementary law.
Paragraph 3 - The states may merge into each other, subdivide or dismember to be annexed to others or to form new states or federal territories, subject to the approval of the population directly concerned, by means of a plebiscite, and of the National Congress, by means of a supplementary law.
Paragraph 4 - The establishment, merger, fusion and dismemberment of municipalities shall be effected through state law, within the period set forth by supplementary federal law, and shall depend on prior consultation, by means of a plebiscite, of the population of the municipalities concerned, after the publication of Municipal Feasibility Studies, presented and published as set forth by law.
(* CA 15/96.)
ARTICLE 19.- The Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities are forbidden to:
I - establish religious sects or churches, subsidize them, hinder their activities, or maintain relationships of dependence or alliance with them or their representatives, without prejudice to collaboration in the public interest in the manner set forth by law;
II - refuse to honour public documents;
III - create distinctions between Brazilians or preferences favouring some.
CHAPTER II
The Union
ARTICLE 20.- The following are property of the Union:
I - the property which presently belongs to it as well as that which may be attributed to it;
II - the unoccupied lands essential to the defense of the boundaries, the fortifications and military constructions, the federal routes of communication and the preservation of the environment, as defined by law;
III - the lakes, rivers and any watercourses in lands within its domain, or that wash more than one state, that serve as boundaries with other countries, or that extend into foreign territory or proceed therefrom, as well as bank lands and river beaches;
IV - the river and lake islands in zones bordering with other countries, sea beaches, the ocean and off-shore islands, with the exception of those referred to in article 26, II;
V - the natural resources of the continental shelf and of the exclusive economic zone;
VI - the territorial sea;
VII - tide lands and those added to them;
VIII - the hydraulic energy potentials;
IX - the mineral resources, including those of the subsoil;
X - the natural underground cavities and the archaeologic and pre-historic sites;
XI - those lands traditionally occupied by the Indians.
Paragraph 1 - In accordance with the law, the participation in the results of the exploitation of petroleum or natural gas, hydric resources for the purpose of generation of electric power and other mineral resources in the respective territory, continental shelf, territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, or financial compensation for the exploitation thereof, is assured to the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, as well as to agencies of the direct administration of the Union.
Paragraph 2 - The strip of land up to a hundred and fifty kilometers in width alongside the terrestrial boundaries, designated as boundary zone, is considered essential to the defense of the national territory and its occupation and utilization shall be regulated by law.
*ARTICLE 21.- The Union shall have the power to:
I - maintain relations with foreign states and participate in international organizations;
II - declare war and make peace;
III - ensure national defense;
IV - allow foreign forces, in the cases provided for in a supplementary law, to pass through the national territory or to remain therein temporarily;
V - declare a state of siege, a state of defense and federal intervention;
VI - authorize and control the production and trade of military matériel;
VII - issue currency;
VIII - manage the foreign exchange reserves of the country and control financial operations, especially those of credit, exchange and capitalization, as well as insurance and private security;
IX - prepare and carry out national and regional plans for the ordaining of the territory and for economic and social development;
X - maintain the postal service and the national air mail;
XI - operate, directly or through authorization, concession or permission, the telecommunications services, as set forth by law, which law shall provide for the organization of the services, the establishment of a regulatory agency and other institutional issues;
XII - operate, directly or through authorization, concession or permission:
a) the services of sound broadcasting and of sound and image broadcasting;
b) the electric power services and facilities and the energetic exploitation of watercourses, jointly with the states wherein those hydroenergetic potentials are located;
c) air and aerospace navigation and airport infrastructure;
d) railway and waterway services between seaports and national borders or which cross the boundary of a state or territory;
e) interstate and international highway passenger transportation services;
f) sea, river and lake ports;
XIII - organize and maintain the Judicial Power, the Public Prosecution and the Public Legal Defense of the Federal District and territories;
XIV - organize and maintain the federal police, the federal highway and railway polices as well as the civil police, the military police, the military fire brigade of the Federal District and territories;
XV - organize and maintain the official services of statistics, geography, geology and cartography of national scope;
XVI - classify, for indicative purposes, public entertainment and radio and television programs;
XVII - grant amnesty;
XVIII - plan and promote permanent defense against public disasters, especially droughts and floods;
XIX - establish a national system for the management of hydric resources and define criteria for the concession of the right to their use;
XX - establish directives for urban development, including housing, basic sanitation and urban transportation;
XXI - establish principles and directives for the national transportation system;
XXII - perform the services of maritime, air, and border police;
XXIII - operate nuclear energy services and facilities of any nature and exercise state monopoly over research, mining, enrichment and reprocessing, industrialization and trade in nuclear ores and their by-products, taking into account the following principles and conditions:
a) all nuclear activity within the national territory shall only be admitted for peaceful purposes and subject to approval by the National Congress;
b) under a concession or permission, authorization is given for the use of radioisotopes in research and for medical, agricultural and industrial use as well as for other analogous activities;
c) civil liability for nuclear damages does not depend on the existence of fault;
XXIV - organize, maintain and carry out inspection of working conditions;
XXV - establish the areas and conditions for the exercise of placer mining activities in associative form.
* CA 8/95.
ARTICLE 22.- The Union has the exclusive power to legislate on:
I - civil, commercial, criminal, procedural, electoral, agrarian, maritime, aeronautical, space and labour law;
II - expropriation;
III - civil and military requisitioning, in case of imminent danger or in times of war;
IV - waters, energy, informatics, telecommunications and radio broadcasting;
V - the postal service;
VI - the monetary and measures systems, metal certificates and guarantees;
VII - policies for credit, foreign exchange, insurance and transfer of values;
VIII - foreign and interstate trade;
IX - guidelines for the national transportation policy;
X - the regime of the ports and lake, river, ocean, air and aerospace navigation;
XI - traffic and transportation;
XII - beds of ore, mines, other mineral resources and metallurgy;
XIII - nationality, citizenship and naturalization;
XIV - Indian populations;
XV - emigration, immigration, entry, extradition and expulsion of foreigners;
XVI - the organization of the national employment system and conditions for the practice of professions;
XVII - the judicial organization of the Public Prosecution and of the Public Legal Defense of the Federal District and of the territories, as well as their administrative organization;
XVIII - the national statistical, cartographic and geological systems;
XIX - systems of savings, as well as of obtaining and guaranteeing popular savings;
XX - consortium and lottery systems;
XXI - general organization rules, troops, matériel, guarantees, drafting and mobilization of the military police and military fire brigades;
XXII - the jurisdiction of the federal police and of the federal highway and military polices;
XXIII - social security;
XXIV - directives and bases of the national education;
XXV - public registers;
XXVI - nuclear activities of any nature;
XXVII - general rules for all types of bidding and contracting, for the direct and indirect public administration, including foundations instituted and maintained by the Government, in its various spheres, and companies under government control;
XXVIII - territorial defense, aerospace defense, maritime defense, civil defense, and national mobilization;
XXIX - commercial advertising.
Sole paragraph - A supplementary law may authorize the states to legislate upon specific questions related to the matters listed in this article.
ARTICLE 23.- The Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, in common, have the power:
I - to ensure that the Constitution, the laws and the democratic institutions are respected and that public property is preserved;
II - to provide for health and public assistance, for the protection and safeguard of handicapped persons;
III - to protect the documents, works and other assets of historical, artistic or cultural value, the monuments, the remarkable landscapes and the archaeological sites;
IV - to prevent works of art and other assets of historical, artistic and cultural value from being taken out of the country, destroyed or from being deprived of their original characteristics;
V - to provide the means of access to culture, education and science;
VI - to protect the environment and to fight pollution in any of its forms;
VII - to preserve the forests, fauna and flora;
VIII - to promote agriculture and cattle breeding and organize the supply of foodstuff;
IX - to promote housing construction programs and the improvement of housing and basic sanitation conditions;
X - to fight the causes of poverty and the factors leading to substandard living conditions, promoting the social integration of the unpriviledged sectors of the population;
XI - to register, monitor and control the concessions of rights to research and exploit hydric and mineral resources within their territories;
XII - to establish and to implement an educational policy for traffic safety.
Sole paragraph - A supplementary law shall establish rules for the cooperation between the Union and the states, the Federal District and the municipalities aiming at the attainment of balanced development and well-being on a nationwide scope.
ARTICLE 24.- The Union, the states and the Federal District have the power to legislate concurrently on:
I - tax, financial, penitentiary, economic and urbanistic law;
II - budget;
III - trade boards;
IV - costs of forensic services;
V - production and consumption;
VI - forests, hunting, fishing, fauna, preservation of nature, defense of the soil and natural resources, protection of the environment and control of pollution;
VII - protection of the historic, cultural and artistic heritage, as well as of assets of touristic interest and landscapes of outstanding beauty;
VIII - liability for damages to the environment, to consumers, to assets and rights of artistic, aesthetic, historical, and touristic value, as well as to remarkable landscapes;
IX - education, culture, teaching and sports;
X - establishment, operation and procedures of small claims courts;
XI - judicial procedures;
XII - social security, protection and defense of health;
XIII - legal assistance and public defense;
XIV - protection and social integration of handicapped persons;
XV - protection of childhood and youth;
XVI - organization, guarantees, rights and duties of the civil polices.
Paragraph 1 - Within the scope of concurrent legislation, the competence of the Union shall be limited to the establishment of general rules.
Paragraph 2 - The competence of the Union to legislate upon general rules does not exclude the supplementary competence of the states.
Paragraph 3 - If there is no federal law or general rules, the states shall exercise full legislative competence to provide for their peculiarities.
Paragraph 4 - The supervenience of a federal law over general rules suspends the effectiveness of a state law to the extent that the two are contrary.
CHAPTER III
The Federated States
*ARTICLE 25.- The states are organized and governed by the Constitutions and laws they may adopt, in accordance with the principles of this Constitution. Paragraph 1 - All powers that this Constitution does not prohibit the states from exercising shall be conferred upon them.
Paragraph 2 - The states shall have the power to operate, directly or by means of concession, the local services of piped gas, as provided for by law, it being forbidden to issue any provisional measure for its regulation.
Paragraph 3 - The states may, by means of a supplementary law, establish metropolitan regions, urban agglomerations and microregions, formed by the grouping of adjacent municipalities, in order to integrate the organization, the planning and the operation of public functions of common interest.
* CA 5/95.
ARTICLE 26.- The property of the states includes:
I - surface or subterranean waters, flowing, emerging or in deposit, with the exception, in this case, of those resulting from work carried out by the Union, as provided by law;
II - the areas, on ocean and coastal islands, which are within their domain, excluding those under the domain of the Union, the municipalities or third parties;
III - the river and lake islands which do not belong to the Union;
IV - the unoccupied lands not included among those belonging to the Union.
*ARTICLE 27.- The number of Deputies in the Legislative Assembly shall correspond to three times the representation of the state in the Chamber of Deputies and, when the number of thirty-six has been reached, it shall be increased by as many members as the number of Federal Deputies exceeding twelve.
Paragraph 1 - The term of office of the State Deputies shall be four years and the provisions of this Constitution shall be applied to them in what refers to the electoral system, inviolability, immunities, remuneration, loss of office, leave of absence, impediments and incorporation into the Armed Forces.
Paragraph 2 - The remuneration of the State Deputies shall be established in each legislative term, for the subsequent one, by the Legislative Assembly, as provided by articles 150, II, 153, III, and 153, paragraph 2, I, in the proportion of seventy-five percent, at most, of the remuneration established, in legal tender, for the Federal Deputies.
Paragraph 3 - The Legislative Assemblies shall have the power to provide upon their internal regulations, police and the administrative services of their Secretariat and to fill in the respective offices.
Paragraph 4 - The law shall provide for the people's initiative in the state legislative process.
* CA 5/95.
*ARTICLE 28.- The election of the Governor and the Vice-Governor of a state, for a term of office of four years, shall be held on the first Sunday of October, in the first round, and on the last Sunday of October, in the second round, as the case may be, of the year preceding the one in which the term of office of their predecessors ends, and they shall take office on January 1 of the following year, in accordance, otherwise, with the provisions of article 77.-
Sole paragraph - The Governor who takes another post or function in the direct or indirect public administration shall lose his office, with the exception of the taking of office by virtue of public entrance examination and taking into account the provisions in article 38, I, IV and V.
* CA 1/92. ** CA 16/97.
CHAPTER IV
The Municipalities
*ARTICLE 29.- Municipalities shall be governed by organic law, voted in two readings, with a minimum interval of ten days between the readings, and approved by two-thirds of the members of the Municipal Chamber, which shall promulgate it, observing the principles established in this Constitution, in the Constitution of the respective state and the following precepts:
I - election of the Mayor, Vice-Mayor and Councilmen for a term of office of four years, by means of direct election held simultaneously throughout the country;
II - election of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor on the first Sunday of October of the year preceding the end of the term of office of those they are to succeed, subject, in the case of municipalities with over two hundred thousand voters, to the provisions set forth in article 77;
III - investiture of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor on January 1 of the year subsequent to the year of the election;
IV - number of councilmen in proportion to the population of the municipalities, in accordance with the following limits:
a) a minimum of nine and a maximum of twenty-one in municipalities with up to one million inhabitants;
b) a minimum of thirty-three and a maximum of forty-one in municipalities with over one million and under five million inhabitants;
c) a minimum of forty-two and a maximum of fifty-five in municipalities with over five million inhabitants;
V - the remuneration of the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor and the Councilmen stipulated by the Municipal Chamber in each legislature for the subsequent one, in accordance with the provisions set forth in articles 37, XI, 150, II, 153, III, and 153, paragraph 2, I;
VI - the remuneration of the City Councilmen shall correspond, at the most, to seventy-five percent of the remuneration established, in legal tender, for the State Deputies, except for the provisions of article 37, XI;
VII - the total expenditure with the remuneration of the City Councilmen may not exceed the amount of five percent of the revenue of the Municipality;
VIII - inviolability of the Councilmen on account of their opinions, words and votes while in office and within the jurisdiction of the municipality;
IX - prohibitions and incompatibilities, while in the exercise of the office of City Councilman, similar, where applicable, to the provisions of this Constitution for the members of the National Congress and of the Constitution of the respective state for the members of the Legislative Assembly;
X - trial of the Mayor before the Court of Justice;
XI - organization of the legislative and supervisory functions of the Municipal Chamber;
XII - cooperation of the representative associations in municipal planning;
XIII - public initiative in the presenting of bills of specific interest to the municipality, the city or the neighborhoods, by means of the manifestation of at least five percent of the electorate;
XIV - loss of the office of mayor, as provided in article 28, sole paragraph.
* CA 1/92 and 16/97.
ARTICLE 30.- The municipalities have the power to:
I - legislate upon matters of local interest;
II - supplement federal and state legislations where pertinent;
III - institute and collect taxes within their jurisdiction, as well as to apply their revenues, without prejudice to the obligation of rendering accounts and publishing balance sheets within the periods established by law;
IV - create, organize and suppress districts, with due regard for the state legislation;
V - organize and render, directly or by concession or permission, the public services of local interest, including mass-transportation, which is of essential nature;
VI - maintain, with the technical and financial cooperation of the Union and the state, programs of pre-school and elementary school education;
VII - provide, with the technical and financial cooperation of the Union and the state, health services to the population;
VIII - promote, wherever pertinent, adequate territorial ordaining, by means of planning and control of use, apportionment and occupation of the urban soil;
IX - promote the protection of the local historic and cultural heritage, with due regard for federal and state legislation and supervision.
ARTICLE 31.- Supervision of the municipality shall be exercised by the municipal legislature, through outside control, and by the internal control systems of the municipal executive branch, in the manner called for by law.
Paragraph 1 - Outside control of the Municipal Chamber shall be exercised with the assistance of the state or municipal Court of Accounts, or of the Municipal Councils or Courts of Accounts, where they exist.
Paragraph 2 - The prior report, issued by the competent agency, on the accounts to be rendered annually by the Mayor, shall not prevail only by a decision of two-thirds of the members of the City Council.
Paragraph 3 - The accounts of the municipalities shall remain, for sixty days annually, at the disposal, for examination and consideration, of any taxpayer, who may question their legitimacy, as the law provides.
Paragraph 4 - The creation of municipal courts, councils or agencies of accounts is forbidden.
CHAPTER V
The Federal District and the Territories
Section I
The Federal District
ARTICLE 32.- The Federal District, which may not be divided into municipalities, shall be governed by an organic law, voted in two readings, with a minimum interval of ten days, and approved by two-thirds of the Legislative Chamber, which shall enact it, in accordance with the principles set forth in this Constitution.
Paragraph 1 - The legislative powers reserved to the states and municipalities are attributed to the Federal District.
Paragraph 2 - The election of the Governor and the Vice-Governor, complying with the rules of article 77, and of the District Deputies shall coincide with that of the state Governors and Deputies, for a term of office of the same duration.
Paragraph 3 - The provisions of article 27 apply to the District Deputies and the Legislative Chamber. Paragraph 4 - A federal law shall provide for the use, by the Government of the Federal District, of the civil and military polices and the military fire brigade.
Section II
The Territories
ARTICLE 33.- The law shall provide for the administrative and judicial organization of the territories.
Paragraph 1 - The territories may be divided into municipalities, to which the provisions of Chapter IV of this Title shall be applied, insofar as pertinent.
Paragraph 2 - The accounts of the Government of the territory shall be submitted to the National Congress, with the prior opinion of the Court of Accounts of the Union.
Paragraph 3 - In the federal territories with over a hundred thousand inhabitants, in addition to the Governor, appointed as set forth in this Constitution, there shall be judicial agencies of first and second instances, members of the Public Prosecution and Federal Public Legal Defenders; the law shall provide for the elections to the Territory Chamber and its decision-making powers.
CHAPTER VI
Intervention
*ARTICLE 34.- The Union shall not intervene in the states or in the Federal District, except:
I - to maintain national integrity;
II - to repel foreign invasion or that of one unit of the Federation into another;
III - to put an end to serious jeopardy to public order;
IV - to guarantee the free exercise of any of the powers of the units of the Federation;
V - to reorganize the finances of a unit of the Federation that:
a) stops the payment of its funded debt for more than two consecutive years, except for reasons of force majeure;
b) fails to deliver to the municipalities the tax revenues established in this Constitution, within the periods of time set forth by law;
VI - to provide for the enforcement of federal law, judicial order or decision;
VII - to ensure compliance with the following constitutional principles:
a) republican form, representative system and democratic regime;
b) rights of the human person;
c) municipal autonomy;
d) rendering of accounts of the direct and indirect public administration.
e) the application of the mandatory minimum of the income resulting from state taxes, including those originating from transfers, to the maintenance and development of education.
*CA 14/96.
ARTICLE 35.- The state shall not intervene in its municipalities, neither the Union in the municipalities located in a federal territory, except when:
I - the funded debt is not paid for two consecutive years, without reasons of force majeure;
II - the due accounts are not rendered, in the manner prescribed by law;
III - the minimum required amount of the municipal revenues has not been applied in the maintenance and development of education;
IV - the Court of Justice grants a petition to ensure observance of the principles indicated in the state Constitution or to provide for the enforcement of the law, judicial order or decision.
ARTICLE 36.- The issuance of a decree of intervention shall depend:
I - on a request from the coerced or impeded Legislative or Executive Power, or on a requisition from the Supreme Federal Court, if the coercion is exercised against the Judicial Power, in the case of article 34, IV;
II - in case of disobedience to a judicial order or decision, on a requisition from the Supreme Federal Court, the Superior Court of Justice or the Superior Electoral Court;
III - on the granting of a petition from the Attorney-General of the Republic by the Supreme Federal Court, in the case of article 34, VII;
IV - on the granting of a petition from the Attorney-General of the Republic by the Superior Court of Justice, in the case of refusal to enforce a federal law.
Paragraph 1 - The decree of intervention, which shall specify the extent, the period and the conditions of enforcement and which, if pertinent, shall appoint the intervenor, shall be submitted to the National Congress or the State Legislative Assembly for consideration, within twenty-four hours.
Paragraph 2 - If the National Congress or the Legislative Assembly are not in session, a special session shall be called within the same twenty-four hours.
Paragraph 3 - In the case of article 34, VI and VII, or article 35, IV, when the consideration by the National Congress or the Legislative Assembly may be waived, the decree shall be limited to suspending the enforcement of the impugned act, if such measure suffices to restore normality. Paragraph 4 - Upon cessation of the reasons that caused the intervention, the authorities removed from their offices shall return to them, unless there is some legal impediment.
CHAPTER VII
Public Administration
Section I
General Provisions
*ARTICLE 37.- The direct or indirect public administration of any of the powers of the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, as well as their foundations, shall obey the principles of lawfulness, impersonality, morality, publicity and also the following:
I - public offices, positions and functions are accessible to all Brazilians who meet the requirements established by law;
II - investiture in a public office or position depends on previously passing an entrance examination consisting of tests or tests and presentation of academic and professional credentials, except for appointment to a commission office declared by law as being of free appointment and discharge;
III - the period of validity of a public entrance examination shall be up to two years, extendable once for a like period of time;
IV - during the unextendable period established in the public call notice, a person who has passed a public entrance examination of tests, or of tests and presentation of academic and professional credentials, shall be called with priority over newly approved applicants, to take an office or position in the career;
V - commission offices or positions of trust shall be exercised, preferentially, by civil servants holding a post in a technical or professional career, in the cases and under the conditions established in law;
VI - the right to free union association is guaranteed to civil servants;
VII - the right to strike shall be exercised in the manner and within the limits defined by a supplementary law;
VIII - the law shall reserve a percentage of public offices and positions for handicapped persons and shall define the criteria for their admittance;
IX - the law shall establish the cases of hiring for a limited period of time to meet a temporary need of exceptional public interest;
X - the general review of the remuneration of Government employees without distinction between the indices applied to civil and military servants, shall always occur on the same date;
XI - the law shall establish the maximum limit and the proportion between the highest and the lowest remuneration of public servants, taking into account, as maximum limits and within the sphere of the respective powers, the amounts received as remuneration, in legal tender of any sort, by members of the National Congress, Ministers of State and Justices of the Supreme Federal Court and the corresponding offices in the states, the Federal District and the territories and, in the municipalities, the amount received as remuneration, in legal tender, by the Mayor;
XII - the salaries for positions of the Legislative and Judicial Powers may not be higher than those paid by the Executive Power;
XIII - the linkage or equalization of salaries, for purposes of the remuneration of the personnel in the public services, is forbidden, except for the provisions of the preceding item and of article 39, paragraph 1;
XIV - the pecuniary raises received by a government employee shall not be computed or accumulated for purposes of granting subsequent raises, for the same reason or on an identical basis;
XV - the salaries of government employees may not be reduced, and the remuneration shall comply with the provisions of article 37, XI and XII, 150, II, 153, III and paragraph 2, I;
XVI - remunerated accumulation of public offices is forbidden, except when there is compatibility of working hours:
a) of two teaching positions;
b) of one teaching position with another technical or scientific position;
c) of two exclusively medical positions;
XVII - the prohibition to accumulate extends to positions and functions and includes autonomous government agencies, public companies, mixed-capital companies and foundations maintained by the Government;
XVIII - the financial administration and its revenue officers shall, within their spheres of authority and jurisdiction, have the right to precedence over the other administrative sectors, as the law provides;
XIX - a public company, a mixed-capital company, an autonomous Government agency or a public foundation may only be created by means of a specific law;
XX - the creation of subsidiaries of the agencies mentioned in the preceding item depends on legislative authorization, in each case, as well as the participation by any of them in a private company;
XXI - with the exception of the cases specified in law, public works, services, purchases and disposals shall be contracted by public bidding proceedings that ensure equal conditions to all bidders, with clauses that establish payment obligations, maintaining the effective conditions of the bid, as the law provides, which shall only allow the requirements of technical and economic qualifications indispensable to guarantee the fulfilling of the obligations.
Paragraph 1 - The publicity of the acts, programmes, public works, services and campaigns of Government agencies shall be of educational, informative or social orientation character, and shall not contain names, symbols or images that characterize personal propaganda of Government authorities or employees.
Paragraph 2 - Non-compliance with the provisions of items II and III shall result in the nullity of the act and punishment of the responsible authority, as the law provides.
Paragraph 3 - Complaints relating to the rendering of public services shall be regulated by law.
Paragraph 4 - Acts of administrative dishonesty shall result in the suspension of political rights, loss of public function, prohibition to transfer personal property and reimbursement to the Public Treasury, in the manner and grading established by law, without prejudice to the applicable criminal action.
Paragraph 5 - The law shall establish the limitations for illicit acts, performed by any agent, whether or not a Government employee, which cause losses to the Public Treasury, without prejudice to the respective claims for reimbursement.
Paragraph 6 - Public legal entities and private legal entities rendering public services shall be liable for damages that any of their agents, acting as such, cause to third parties, ensuring the right of recourse against the liable agent in cases of malice or fault.
* CA 18/98.
ARTICLE 38.- The following provisions are applicable to civil servants holding an elective office:
I - in the case of a federal, state or district elective office, he shall leave his office, position or function;
II - if vested with the office of Mayor, he shall take leave from his post, position or function and he may opt for the corresponding remuneration;
III - if vested with the office of City Councilman, if there is compatibility of working hours, he shall receive the benefits of his post, position or function, without prejudice to the remuneration of his elective office and in the case there is no such compatibility, the provisions of the preceding item shall be applied;
IV - in any case requiring leave of absence for the exercise of an elective office, his time of service shall be counted in full, for all legal effects, except for promotion by merit;
V - for purposes of social security benefits, in the case of leave of absence, the amounts shall be established as if he were in activity.
Section II
*Government Employees
ARTICLE 39.- The Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities shall institute, within their jurisdiction, a sole juridical regime and career plans for the employees of the direct public administration, the autonomous Government agencies and the public foundations.
Paragraph 1 - The law shall guarantee, to the direct administration employees, equal salaries for offices in the same Power with equal or similar duties or between employees of the Executive, Legislative or Judicial Powers, except for advantages of a personal nature and those corresponding to the type of work or the workplace.
Paragraph 2 - The provisions of article 7, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XII, XIII, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXII, XXIII and XXX shall apply to these employees.
**ARTICLE 40.- A civil servant shall go into retirement:
I - for permanent disability, receiving full pension if such disability results from a work accident, professional disease or a serious, contagious or incurable illness, as specified by law, and proportional pension in all other cases;
II - compulsorily, at seventy years of age, with a pension proportional to the period of service;
III - voluntarily:
a) upon thirty-five years of service, if a man, and upon thirty years, if a woman, with full pay;
b) upon thirty years of effective exercise in teaching positions, if a man, and upon twenty-five years, if a woman, with full pay;
c) upon thirty years of service, if a man, and upon twenty-five years, if a woman, with pay in proportion to this period;
d) at sixty-five years of age, if a man, and at sixty, if a woman, with pay in proportion to the period of service.
Paragraph 1 - A supplementary law may establish exceptions to the provisions of item III, a and c, in the case of the exercise of activities considered strenuous, unhealthy or dangerous.
Paragraph 2 - The law shall provide for retirement in temporary offices or positions.
Paragraph 3 - The period of federal, state or municipal public service shall be calculated in full for purposes of retirement and placement on paid availability.
Paragraph 4 - The retirement pension shall be revised, in the same proportion and on the same date, whenever the remuneration of the servants in activity is changed, and any benefits or advantages subsequently granted to the servants in activity shall also be extended to the retired servants, including those resulting from the transformation or reclassification of the office or function from which they retired, as the law provides.
Paragraph 5 - The benefit of pension for death shall correspond to the full salary or earnings of the deceased employee, up to the limit established in law, complying with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Paragraph 6 - The retirement and pension benefits of the federal civil servants shall be financed by resources originating from the Union and from the contributions of the civil servants, under the terms of the law.
** CA 3/93.
ARTICLE 41.- Servants employed by virtue of public entrance examinations acquire tenure after two years of actual service.
Paragraph 1 - A tenured civil servant shall only lose his office by virtue of a final and unappealable judicial decision or by means of an administrative process, in which he is assured ample defense.
Paragraph 2 - If the dismissal of a tenured civil servant is voided by a judicial decision, he shall be reinstated and the occupant of the vacancy shall be led back to his original office, with no right to indemnity, taken to another office or placed on paid availability.
Paragraph 3 - If the office is declared extinct or unnecessary, a tenured civil servant shall remain on paid availability until he is adequately placed in another office.
* CA 18/98.
Section III
*The Military Of The States, of the Federal District and of the Territories
**ARTICLE 42.- The members of the Military Police and of the Military Fire Brigades, institutions whose organization is based on hierarchy and discipline, are military of the States, of the Federal District and of the Territories.
Paragraph 1. The provisions of article 14, paragraph 8; article 40, paragraph 3; and of article 142, paragraphs 2 and 3 apply to the military of the States, of the Federal District and of the Territories, in addition to other provisions that the law may establish, it being incumbent upon specific state legislation to provide for the matters of article 142, paragraph 3, item X, the ranks of the officers being awarded by the respective State Governors.
Paragraph 2. The provisions of article 40, paragraphs 4 and 5 apply to the military of the States, of the Federal District and of the Territories, and to their pensioners, and the provision of article 40, paragraph 6 applies to the military of the Federal District and of the Territories.
* CA 18/98.
** CA 3/93 and 18/98.
Section IV
The Regions
ARTICLE 43.- For administrative purposes, the Union may coordinate its action in one same social and geoeconomic complex, seeking to attain its development and to reduce regional inequalities.
Paragraph 1 - A supplementary law shall provide for:
I - the conditions for the integration of developing regions;
II - the composition of the regional agencies which shall carry out, as provided by law, the regional plans included in the national social and economic development plans approved concurrently.
Paragraph 2 - The regional incentives shall include, besides others, as prescribed by law:
I - equality of tariffs, freight rates, insurance and other cost and price items which are within the responsibility of the Government;
II - favoured interest rates for the financing of priority activities;
III - exemptions, reductions or temporary deferment of federal taxes owed by individuals or by legal entities;
IV - priority in the economic and social use of rivers and dammed or dammable water masses in low-income regions subject to periodical droughts.
Paragraph 3 - In the areas referred to in paragraph 2, IV, the Union shall grant incentives to the recovery of arid lands and shall cooperate with small and medium-size rural landowners in the implementing of water sources and small-scale irrigation in their tracts of land.
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