Brazilian Constitution

The current constitution is the eighth in a row constitution of Brazil. Its development lasted more than three years: from 1985 to 1988 . The creation of a new constitution became a necessity after the twenty-year military dictatorship ended in Brazil in early 1985 and global democratic transformation began. On July 18, 1985, President José Sarney issued a decree establishing the Provisional Commission on Constitutional Transformations. This commission developed a preliminary draft constitution, but it was criticized by both left and right parties and was not submitted to the Constitutional Assembly.

The Constitutional Assembly began work on the constitution in February 1987 . She developed the text of the basic law in 8 thematic commissions, divided into subcommissions. In total, about 50 thousand proposals and amendments were considered in them. As a result, on July 9, 1987, the draft constitution was put up for public discussion. Within a month, the population proposed more than 10 thousand amendments, which were signed by about 12 million people. The final text of the constitution included 122 of them.

The final vote on the text of the constitution took place in the Constitutional Assembly on September 22, 1988 . By overwhelming majority of votes, the new constitution was adopted and officially entered into force on October 5 of that year.

The current constitution has a form typical of the Brazilian tradition: it consists of a preamble , the main part, which includes 250 articles in nine sections, and transitional constitutional provisions (83 articles).

In accordance with the constitution, Brazil is a democratic state based on the principles of sovereignty , citizenship , human dignity, social values, free enterprise and political pluralism ^[6] .

Initially, the form of government in Brazil was established by the current constitution as temporary, since according to Art. 2 transitional provisions in the country had to pass a referendum on the form ( republic or monarchy ) and the system of government (parliamentary or presidential). This condition was included in the constitution so that after twenty years of military dictatorship, the Brazilian population would become accustomed to democratic relations and consciously respond to the monarchical tendencies that appeared in the country. The plebiscite took place on April 21, 1993 , and on it the majority of voters voted for the presidential republic .

According to Art. 60 Constitution may be amended. They can be proposed by at least a third of the members of the Chamber of Deputies or the Federal Senate, the president of the country , as well as the legislative assemblies of the subjects of the federation.

As of May 2011, the Brazilian Constitution has been amended 67. The most important of them were: reducing the monopolistic activities of the state-owned oil company Petrobras , shortening the term of presidency from eight to four years, and also allowing the re-election of the president.

• The text of the current constitution of Brazil consists of almost 42 thousand words, which makes it the most voluminous document in the history of the country.
• The constitution includes a special chapter on Indians, in which the Indians recognize their social organization, customs and traditions, languages ​​and beliefs, as well as their original rights to the lands that they traditionally occupy ^[7] .
• According to the constitution, people over 65 are granted the right to free use of public transport in Brazil ^[8] .

• Constitutional History of Brazil

• Brazilian Constitution in the library of law.

• The Constitution of 1988 in Russian .
• The text of the constitution for 2006 (English)
• The text of the constitution for 2010 (port.)