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SECTION IV - THE MINISTERS OF STATE

Article 87. The Ministers of State shall be chosen from among Brazilians over twenty-one years of age and in possession of their political rights. Sole paragraph - The Minister of State, in addition to other duties established in this Constitution and in the law, has the power to: 
I - exercise guidance, coordination and supervision of the agencies and entities of the federal administration in the area of his authority and to countersign acts and decrees signed by the President of the Republic; 
II - issue instructions for the enforcement of laws, decrees and regulations; 
III - submit to the President of the Republic an annual report on his administration of the Ministry;
IV - perform the acts pertinent to the duties assigned or delegated to him by the President of the Republic. 

Article 88. The law shall provide for the creation and extingshment of the Ministries and bodies of the public administration.

Article 88 amended by CA 32, September 11th 2001. Original text was "The law shall provide for the creation, structuring and duties of the Ministries."

SECTION V - THE COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC AND THE NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL

SUBSECTION I - THE COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC

Article 89. The Council of the Republic is a higher body for consultation by the President of the Republic, and its members are: 
I - the Vice-President of the Republic; 
II - the President of the Chamber of Deputies; 
III - the President of the Federal Senate; 
IV - the majority and the minority leaders in the Chamber of Deputies; 
V - the majority and the minority leaders in the Federal Senate; 
VI - the Minister of Justice;
VII - six born Brazilian citizens, with over thirty-five years of age, two of which appointed by the President of the Republic, two elected by the Federal Senate and two elected by the Chamber of Deputies, all with a term of office of three years, the re-appointment being prohibited. 

Article 90. The Council of the Republic has the competence to express opinion on: I - federal intervention, state of defense and state of siege; 
II - matters relevant to the stability of the democratic institutions. 
Paragraph 1. The President of the Republic may call a State Minister to participate in the Council meeting, when the agenda includes a matter related to the respective Ministry. 
Paragraph 2 - The organization and operation of the Council of the Republic shall be regulated by law. 

SUBSECTION II - THE NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL

Article 91. The National Defense Council is a consultation body of the President of the Republic on matters related to national sovereignty and the defense of the democratic state, and the following participate in it as natural members: 
I - the Vice-President of the Republic; 
II - the President of the Chamber of Deputies; 
III - the President of the Federal Senate; 
IV - the Minister of Justice; 
V - the Minister of Defense; 
VI - the Minister of External Relations; 
VII - the Minister of Planning. 
VIII - the Commanders of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Clauses V and VIII amended by CA 23, September 2nd 1999. This CA created the Ministry of Defense, extinguishing the Ministries of Navy, Army and Air Force and creating the respective Commanders. See article 84, XIII.

Paragraph 1 - It is the competence of the National Defense Council: 
I - to express opinion in the event of declaration of war and making of peace, as established in this Constitution;
II - to express opinion on the decreeing of state of defense, state of siege and federal intervention;
III - to propose the criteria and conditions for the use of areas which are indispensable to the security of the national territory and to express opinion on their actual use, especially on the boundary zone and on those related to the preservation and exploitation of natural resources of any kind; 
IV - to study, propose and monitor the development of initiatives required to guarantee national independence and the defense of the democratic state. 
Paragraph 2 - The organization and the operation of the National Defense Council shall be regulated by law. 

TITLE V - THE DEFENSE OF THE STATE AND OF THE DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER I - THE STATE OF DEFENSE AND THE STATE OF SIEGE

SECTION I - THE STATE OF DEFENSE

Article 136. The President of the Republic may, after hearing the Council of the Republic and the National Defense Council, decree a state of defense to preserve or to promptly re-establish, in specific and restricted locations, the public order or the social peace threatened by serious and imminent institutional instability or affected by major natural calamities. 
Paragraph 1 - The decree instituting the state of defense shall determine the period of its duration, shall specify the areas to be encompassed and shall indicate, within the terms and limitations of the law, the coercive measures to be in force from among the following: 
I - restrictions to the rights of: 
a) assembly, even if held within associations; 
b) secrecy of correspondence; 
c) secrecy of telegraph and telephone communication.
II - in the event of a public calamity, occupation and temporary use of public property and services, the Union being liable for the resulting damages and C osts 
Paragraph 2 - The state of defense shall not exceed thirty days and it may be extended once for an identical period if the reasons that justified its decreeing persist. 
Paragraph 3 - During the period in which the state of defense is in force: I - arrest for a crime against the State, determined by the party executing the measure, shall be immediately communicated by such party to the competent judge, who shall remit it if it is illegal, it being the arrested person's choice to request examination of corpus delicti from the police authority; 
II - the communication shall be accompanied by a statement by the authority as to the physical and mental state of the arrested person at the time of the filing of the charges; 
III - the imprisonment or detention of any person shall not exceed ten days, unless authorized by the Judicial Power; 
IV - incommunicability of the arrested person is forbidden. 
Paragraph 4 - Upon decreeing a state of defense or extension thereof, the President of the Republic shall, within twenty-four hours, submit the act with the respective justification to the National Congress, which shall decide by absolute majority. 
Paragraph 5 - If the National Congress is in recess, it shall be called extraordinarily within five days. 
Paragraph 6 - The National Congress shall examine the decree within ten days as from receipt thereof, and shall remain in operation as long as the state of defense is in force.
Paragraph 7 - If the decree is rejected, the state of defense shall cease immediately. 

SECTION II - THE STATE OF SIEGE

Article 137. The President of the Republic may, after hearing the Council of the Republic and the National Defense Council request authorization from the National Congress to decree the state of seize in the event of: 
I - serious disturbance with nationwide effects or occurrence of facts that evidence the ineffectiveness of a measure taken during the state of defense;
II - declaration of state of war or response to foreign armed aggression. 
Sole paragraph - The President of the Republic shall, on requesting authorization to decree the state of siege or to extend it, submit the reasons that determine such request, and the National Congress shall decide by absolute majority. 

Article 138. The decree of the state of siege shall specify the period of its duration, the rules required to implement it and the constitutional guarantees that are to be suspended and, after it is published, the President of the Republic shall designate the executor of the specific measures and the areas encompassed. 
Paragraph 1 - In the event of article 137, I, the state of siege may not be decreed for more than thirty days nor may each extension exceed such period; in the event of item II, it may be decreed for the entire period of the war or foreign armed aggression. 
Paragraph 2 - If authorization to decree the state of siege is requested during parliamentary recess, the President of the Federal Senate shall immediately summon an extraordinary session of the National Congress to convene within five days in order to examine the act. 
Paragraph 3 - The National Congress shall remain in session until the end of the coercive measures. 

Article 139. During the period in which the state of siege decreed under article 137, I, is in force, only the following measures may be taken against persons: 
I - obligation to remain at a specific place; 
II - detention in a building not intended for persons accused of or convicted for common crimes; 
III - restrictions regarding the inviolability of correspondence, the secrecy of communications, the rendering of information and the freedom of press, radio broadcasting and television, as established bv law; 
IV - suspension of freedom of assembly; 
V - home search and seizure; 
VI - intervention in public utility companies; 
VII - requisitioning of property. 
Sole paragraph - The broadcasting of speeches made by Congressmen in their Legislative Houses is not included in the restrictions of item III, if authorized by the respective Directing Board. 

SECTION III - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 140. The Directing Board of the National Congress shall, after hearing the party leaders, designate a Committee comprised of five of its members to monitor and supervise the implementation of the measures concerning the state of defense and the state of siege. 

Article 141. Once the state of defense or the state of siege ceases, its effects shall also cease, without prejudice to liability for illicit acts performed by the executors or agents thereof. 
Sole paragraph - As soon as the state of defense or the state of siege ceases, the measures applied during the period while it is in force shall be reported by the President of the Republic in a message to the National Congress, with specification and justification of the actions taken, with the listing of the names af those affected and indication of the restrictions applied. 

CHAPTER II - THE ARMED FORCES

Article 142. The Armed Forces, comprised of the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, are permanent and regular national institutions, organized on the basis of hierarchy and discipline, under the supreme authority of the President of the Republic, and are intended for the defense of the Country, for the guarantee of the constitutional powers, and, on the initiative of any of these, of law and order.
Paragraph 1 - A supplementary law shall establish the general rules to be adopted in the organization, training and use of the Armed Forces. 
Paragraph 2 - Habeas-corpus shall not apply to military disciplinary punishments. 

The entire Paragraph 3 was added by CA 18, February 5th 1998. This CA instituted the constitutional regime of the militaries. Before the CA, the references to the militaries were, in most cases, aglutinated with the references to the civil servants.

Paragraph 3 - The members of the Armed Forces are called military, and the following provisions apply to them, in addition to other provisions that the law may establish:
I - the ranks, with the prerogatives, rights and duties inherent to them, are awarded by the President of the Republic and are guaranteed in full to officers in active service, those of the reserve or in retirement, and such officers have exclusive rights to military titles and posts, and together with the other members, to the use of the uniforms of the Armed Forces; 
II - a military in active service who takes office in a permanent civil public position or job shall be transferred to the reserve, under the terms of the law; 
III - a military in active service who, under the terms of the law, takes office in a non-elective, temporary civil public position, job or function, even if in the indirect administration, shall be put on leave and, as long as he remains in this situation he may only be promoted by seniority, and his period of service shall be counted only for that promotion and for transfer to the reserve, and after two years, whether continuous or not, away from active service, he shall be transferred to the reserve, under the terms of the law;
IV - the military are forbidden to join unions and to strike;
V - while in actual service, the military are forbidden to belong to political parties;
VI - an officer shall only lose his post and rank if he is judged unworthy of or incompatible with the dignity of officership by decision of a permanent military court, in times of peace, or of a special court, in times of war;
VII - an officer sentenced in a common or military court by means of an unappealable judgment to imprisonment for more than two years shall be submitted to trial as provided in the preceding item;
VIII - the provisions of article 7, items VIII, XII, XVII, XVIII, XIX, and XXV, and of article 37, items XI, XIII, XIV and XV, apply to the military;
IX - the provisions of article 40, paragraphs 4, 5, and 6 apply to the military and their pensioners;
X - the law shall provide for admission to the Armed Forces, age limits, tenure, and other conditions for a military to be retired, the rights, duties, remuneration, prerogatives and other circumstances which are specific to the military, the special characteristics of their activities being taken into account, including those carried our by virtue of international agreements and of war. 

Article 143. Military service is compulsory as set forth by law. 
Paragraph 1 - It is within the competence of the Armed Forces, according to the law, to assign an alternative service to those who, in times of peace, after being enlisted, claim imperative of conscience, which shall be understood as originating in religious creed and philosophical or political belief, for exemption from essentially military activities. 
Paragraph 2 - Women and clergymen are exempt from compulsory military service in times of peace, but are subject to other duties assigned to them by law. 

CHAPTER III - PUBLIC SECURITY

Article 144. Public security, the duty of the State and the right and responsibility of all, is exercised to preserve public order and the safety of persons and property, by means of the following agencies: 
I - federal police; 
II - federal highway police; 
III - federal railway police; 
IV - civil polices;
V - military polices and military fire brigades. 
Paragraph 1 - The federal police, instituted by law as a permanent body, organized and maintained by the Union and structured into a career, have the following competences:

Paragraph 1, text in purple added by CA 19, June 4th 1998.

I - to investigate criminal offenses against the political and the social order or to the detriment of property, services and interests of the Union and of its autonomous government entities and public companies, as well as other offenses with interstate or international effects and requiring uniform repression as the law shall establish; 

Law 8137, Dec. 27th 1990, defines crimes against the tax and economic order, and establishes that such crimes are competence of the Federal Police. The Law 10446, May 8th 2002, defines the crimes with interstate or international effects and others requiring uniform repression.

II - to prevent and repress the illegal traffic of narcotics and like drugs, as well as smuggling, without prejudice to action by the treasury authorities and other government agencies in their respective areas of competence; 
III - to exercise the functions of maritime, airport and border police; 

Clause III amended by CA 19, June 6th 1998. Original text read "maritime, air and border police".

IV - to exercise, exclusively, the functions of criminal police of the Union. 
Paragraph 2 - The federal highway police are a permanent body structured into a career and intended, according to the law, to patrol ostensibly the federal highways. 
Paragraph 3 - The federal railway police are a permanent body, organized and maintained by the Union and structured into a career and intended, according to the law, to patrol ostensibly the federal railways. 

Paragraph 1, text in purple added by CA 19, June 4th 1998.

Paragraph 4 - It is incumbent upon the civil police, directed by career police comissioners and except for the competence of the Union, to exercise the functions of criminal police and to investigate criminal offenses, with the exception of the military ones. 
Paragraph 5 - It is within the competence of the military polices the ostensive policing and the maintenance of the public order; it is incumbent upon the military fire brigades, in addition to the duties defined by law, to carry out activities of civil defense. 
Paragraph 6 - The military polices and military fire brigades, ancillary forces and reserve of the Army, are subject, together with the civil police, to the Governors of the states, of the Federal District and of the territories.
Paragraph 7 - The law shall regulate the organization and operation of the agencies responsible for public security in such a manner as to guarantee the efficiency of their activities. 
Paragraph 8 - The municipalities may organize municipal guards to protect their property, services and facilities, as the law shall establish. 
Paragraph 9. The remuneration of the policemen serving the bodies mentioned in this article shall be fixed in the way provided for in article 39, paragraph 4.

Paragraph 9 added by CA 19, June 4th 1998.

TITLE VI - TAXATION AND BUDGET

CHAPTER I - THE NATIONAL TAX SYSTEM

SECTION I - GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 145. The Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities may institute the following tributes:
I - taxes;
II - fees, by virtue of the exercise of police power or for the effective or potential use of specific and divisible public services, rendered to the taxpayer or made available to him; 
III - benefit charges, resulting from public works.
Paragraph 1 - Whenever possible, taxes shall have an individual character and shall be graded according to the economic capacity of the taxpayer, and the tax administration may, especially to confer effectiveness upon such objectives, with due respect to individual rights and under the terms of the law, identify the property, the incomes and the economic activities of the taxpayer.
Paragraph 2 - Fees may not have the assessment basis reserved for taxes.

Article 146. A supplementary law shall:
I - provide for conflicts of competence concerning tax matters between the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities;
II - regulate the constitutional limitations on the power to tax;
III - establish general rules concerning tax legislation, especially with regard to:
a) the definition of tributes and their types, as well as, regarding the taxes specified in this Constitution, the definition of the respective taxable events, assessment bases and taxpayers; 
b) tax liability, assessment, credit, limitation and laches;
c) adequate tax treatment for the cooperative acts of cooperative associations;
d) definition of diferentiated and favorable treatment for micro enterprises and small size enterprises, including special or simplified regimes in the cases of the tax established by article 155, II, of the contributions established by article 195, I and paragraphs 12 and 13, and of the contribution subject of article 239.

Letter d added by CA 42, December 19th 2003. The CA 42 became known as the Tax Reform.
Sole paragraph. The supplementary law subject of clause III, d, may also institute a regime of centralized collection of taxes and contributions of the Union, States, Federal District and municipalities, with observance of the following:
I - it shall be optional for the taxpayer;
II - different enrollment conditions may be established for each State;
III - the collection shall be unified and centralized and the distribution of the shares of proceeds to the respective federated entities shall be immediate, any retention or conditioning being forbidden;
IV - the collection, the auditing and the execution may be conducted jointly by the federated entities, with adoption of a sole national database of tax payers.

Sole paragraph and respective clauses added by CA 42, December 19th 2003.

Article 146-A. Supplementary law may establish special criteria of taxing, with the purpose of preventing unequalities of competition, without prejudice of the competence of the Union, by means of a law, to establish norms with the same objective.

Article 146-A added by CA 42, December 19th 2003.

Article 147. In a federal territory, state taxes are within the competence of the Union and, if the territory is not divided into municipalities, also municipal taxes; municipal taxes are within the competence of the Federal District.

Article 148. The Union may, by means of a supplementary law, institute compulsory loans:
I - to meet extraordinary expenses resulting from public calamity, foreign war or the imminence thereof;
II - in the case of public investment of an urgent nature and relevant national interest, observing the provisions of article 150, III, b.
Sole paragraph - The use of funds deriving from a compulsory loan shall be linked to the expense that justified the institution thereof. 

Article 149. The Union shall have the exclusive competence to institute social contributions, contributions of intervention in the economic order and contributions of interest of categories of employees or employers, as an instrument of its activity in the respective areas, observing the provisions of articles 146, III, and 150, I and III, and without prejudice to the provisions of article 195, paragraph 6, as regards the contributions mentioned in the latter article. 
Paragraph 1. The States, the Federal District and the municipalities shall institute contribution, paid by their servers, for the funding, in benefit of them, of the social security regime subject of article 40, and the rate shall not be inferior to the rate of the contribution paid by the servants holders of effective offices of the Union.

Former sole paragraph was turned into paragraph 1 by CA 41, December 19th 2003. Original text read: "Sole paragraph - The states, the Federal District and the municipalities may institute a contribution payable by their employees to fund social security and assistance systems for the benefit of the latter." After the CA, States and municipalities are obliged to collect a social security contribution from their civil servants.
Paragraph 2. The social contributions and the contributions of intervention in the economic order referred to in the caput of this article:

Paragraph 2 added by CA 33, December 11th 2001.

I - shall not be levied on proceeds derived from exportations;

Clause I added by CA 33, December 11th 2001.

II - shall be levied on the importation of foreigner products or services;

Clause II added by CA 42, December 19th 2003.

III - may have rates:
a) ad valorem, having as assessment bases the turnout, the gross revenue or the amount of the transaction and, in case of importation, the customs value;
b) specific, having as assessment bases the measure unit adopted. 

Clause III added by CA 33, December 11th 2001.

Paragraph 3. The individuals recipients of importation transactions may be equiparated to corporations, in the manner prescribed by law.
Paragraph 4. The law shall define the cases in which the contributions shall be levied only once.

Paragraph 3 and 4 added by CA 39, December 19th 2002.

SECTION II - LIMITATIONS ON THE POWER TO TAX

Article 150. Without prejudice to any other guarantees ensured to the taxpayers, the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities are forbidden to:
I - impose or increase a tribute without a law to establish it;
II - institute unequal treatment. ent for taxpayers who are in an equivalent situation, it being forbidden to establish any distinction by reason of professional occupation or function performed by them, independently of the juridical designation of their incomes, titles or rights;
III - collect tributes:
a) for taxable events that occurred before the law which instituted or increased such tributes came into force;
b) in the same fiscal year in which the law which instituted or increased such tributes was published;
c) before the elapsing of ninety days counted from the date of publication of the law which institute them or raised them, with due regard of the provisions of letter b;

Letter c added by CA 42, December 19th 2003. Before this CA, it was usual to see the governments publishing a special issue of the official gazette on December 31st, only to increase taxes on January 1st. Now, the government must wait ninety days or until the next year, whatever comes later; however, there are exceptions, established by the paragraph 1 of this same article.

IV - use a tribute for the purpose of confiscation;
V - establish limitations on the circulation of persons or goods, by means of interstate or intermunicipal tributes, except for the collection of toll fees for the use of highways maintained by the Government;
VI - institute taxes on:
a) the property, income or services of one another;
b) temples of any denomination;
c) the property, income or services of political parties, including their foundations, of worker unions, of non-profit education and social assistance institutions, observing the requirements of the law;
d) books, newspapers, periodicals and the paper intended for the printing thereof.
Paragraph 1 - The prohibition set forth in item III, b, shall not apply to the taxes provided upon in articles 148, I, 153, I, II, IV and V, and 154, II; and the prohibition established by clause III, c, shall not apply to taxes mentioned in articles 148, I, 153, I, II, III and V, and 154, II, nor to the fixation of assessment bases of taxes mentioned in articles 155, III, and 156, I.

Paragraph 1: text in purple added by CA 42, December 19th 2003. 

Paragraph 2 - The prohibition set forth in item VII a, extends to the autonomous government agencies and to the foundations instituted and maintained by the Government, as regards the property, income and services related to their essential purposes or resulting therefrom. 
Paragraph 3 - The prohibitions set forth in item VI, a, and in the preceding paragraph do not apply to the property, income and services related to the exploitation of economic activities governed by the regulations which apply to private undertakings, or in which users pay consideration or prices or tariffs. nor exempt a promissory purchaser of real property from the obligation to pay tax thereon. 
Paragraph 4 - The prohibitions set forth in item VI, subitems b and c encompass only the property, income and services related to the essential purposes of the entities mentioned therein. 
Paragraph 5 - The law shall determine measures for consumers to be informed about taxes levied on goods and services. 
Paragraph 6 - Any subsidy or exemption, reduction of assessment basis, concession of presumed credit, amnesty or remission, related to taxes, fees or contributions, may only be granted by means of a specific federal, state or municipal law, which provides exclusively for the above-enumerated matters or the corresponding tax, fee or contribution, without prejudice to the provisions of article 155, paragraph 2, item XII, g. 

Paragraph 6. Text in purple appended by CA 3, March 17th 1993. Before this CA, governments used to, e.g., create a new exemption for producers of wheel chairs when issuing a law on behalf of disabled people.

Paragraph 7 - The law may impose upon the taxpayer the burden of the payment of a tax or contribution, whose taxable event will occur later, the immediate and preferential restitution of the amount paid being ensured, in case the presumed taxable event does not occur.

Paragraph 7 added by CA 3, March 17th 1993. The provisions of this paragraph are applied, for example, to the commerce of fuel, beer and tobacco. The producer of beer, when selling to the wholesalers, pays the taxes which should be paid later by the wholesaler, the retailer and the final consumer.

Article 151. It is forbidden for the Union:
I - to institute a tribute which is not uniform throughout the entire national territory or which implies a distinction or preference regarding a state, the Federal District or a municipality to the detriment of another, it being allowed to grant tax incentives for the purpose of promoting the balanced social and economic development of the various regions of the country;
II - to tax income from public debt bonds of the states, of the Federal District and of the municipalities, as well as the remuneration and earnings of the respective public agents, at levels above those established for its own bonds and agents;
III - to institute exemptions from tributes within the powers of the states, of the Federal District or of the municipalities.

Article 152. The states, the Federal District and the municipalities are forbidden to establish a tax difference between goods and services of any nature, by reason of their origin or destination.

SECTION III - FEDERAL TAXES

Article 153. The Union shall have the power to institute taxes on:
I - importation of foreign products;
II - exportation to other countries of national or nationalized products;
III - income and earnings of any nature; 
IV - industrialized products;
V - credit, foreign exchange and insurance transactions, or transactions relating to bonds or securities;
VI - rural property;
VII - large fortunes, under the terms of a supplementary law.
Paragraph l - The Executive Power may, observing the conditions and the limits established in law, alter the rates of the taxes enumerated in items I, II, IV and V.
Paragraph 2 - The tax established in item III:
I - shall be based on the criteria of generality, universality and progressives, under the terms of the law;
II -