History of The Constitution of Brazil - Sixth Constitution (1967)

Sixth Constitution (1967)

Background

After the military coup d'état of April 1, 1964 the controllers of the new régime kept the 1946 constitution and promised to restore democracy as soon as possible. However, they eventually did not and were faced with a dilemma, as every measure they took was strictly against the current constitution, including the coup itself.

The so-called Institutional Acts sequentially issued by the military presidents were, in practice, placed higher than the Constitution and could amend it. Even under these circumstances, the first military president, Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, was committed to restoring civilian rule in 1966. However, a large number of military and civilian extremists felt the military had to stay in power for some years. They also wanted to pass more "proper" laws to fight subversive individuals (anyone that opposed the régime).

By 1965, however, the situation reached an unbearable point when opposition candidates won the governorships of Minas Gerais and Guanabara. Castelo Branco refused to annul the results. A coup was only averted when Castelo Branco agreed to support the military's reform program. By this time, the military had decided to drop all pretense of democracy. It also felt the 1946 constitution was "obsolete" as the "new institutions" were not foreseen in it.

A new constitution was written by a team of lawyers commissioned by Castelo Branco and amended (under the instructions of Castelo Branco himself) by the minister of Justice, Carlos Medeiros Silva and voted as whole by the Brazilian Parliament (already purged of most opponents of the status quo).

The Original Constitution

The main features of the new Constitution were:

• Restriction of political rights: direct elections would only be held at state and county level, but not in federal territories or cities considered as of interest of national security for whatever reason (such cities were specified as those lying by the international border, state capitals, "important" industrial centres, university towns, jungle towns, towns close to power plants, mining sites, etc.). About 500 cities/towns were listed, the largest and most important ones. Presidents and governors were chosen in indirect elections by the correspondent Legislative branch (the National Congress and State Legislatures). However, these "elections" were elaborate shams. The federal and state legislatures were dominated by government supporters, meaning the government candidate could not possibly be defeated.
• Restriction of civil rights: any meeting, assembly or gathering of people should be formal, must be previously authorised and conducted under supervision. Unauthorised meetings would be disbanded by the police and participants sued (if lucky; they were more likely imprisoned, tortured or worse).
• Military (uniformed) State Police Corps acknowledged as reserve corps of the Federal Army (as well as State Fire Brigades), with the task of outdoor patrolling to "provide public security", thereby reducing the autonomy of the existing civilian (plainclothes) police, reduced to an investigative role.
• Removal of all privileges of judges, allowing the president to force them to retire or to remove them (the latter never used).
• After previously disbanding of all political parties (which had existed for only twenty years), creation of tight controls on the formation of parties, allowing for a bipartisan system comprising the official party, Aliança Renovadora Nacional – Arena (National Renovating Alliance), and the controlled opposition of the Movimento Democrático Brasileiro – MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement).
• Limitation of federated states' autonomy.
• Establishment of a series of controls, commissions and institutions to regulate and report a number of aspects of civil, social and economic life, thus intensifying an already existing trend towards bureaucracy, top-heavy management of the economy by the central government.
• Granting the president the right to issue decrees (Decretos-Lei) that would enter in force at the moment of their publication and be inscribed in the statute-book after 30 days in the absence of Congressional deliberation on them.