The Federal Government of Brazil (''Governo Federal'') is the national government of the

Federative Republic of Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, a republic in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

divided into 26 states and a federal district. The Brazilian federal government is divided into three branches: the executive, which is headed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and the cabinet; the legislative, whose powers are vested by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

in the National Congress; and the judiciary, whose powers are vested in nine organs, including the

Supreme Federal Court The Federal Supreme Court (, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the country's Constitutional Court. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings ...

and lower federal courts. The seat of the federal government is located in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

Division of powers

Brazil is a federal presidential constitutional republic, which is based on a

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies func ...

. The federal government has three independent

branches A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includi ...

: executive, legislative, and judicial. The Federal Constitution is the

supreme law A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the federal government. It provides the framework for the organization of the Brazilian government and for the relationship of the federal government to the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, to citizens, and to all people within Brazil.

Executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

is exercised by the executive, headed by the

, advised by a Cabinet of Ministers. The President is both the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Legislative power A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

is vested upon the National Congress, a two-chamber legislature comprising the Federal Senate and the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

Judicial power The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is exercised by the judiciary, consisting of the

, the Superior Court of Justice and other Superior Courts, the

National Justice Council The National Council of Justice (CNJ) is an administrative and oversight organ of the Brazilian Judiciary created by constitutional amendment in 2004 as a part of judicial reform. Among its responsibilities are ensuring that the judicial system r ...

and the regional federal courts.

Logo evolution

Brazil - 1969.svg, 1969–1974 (as president Artur Costa e Silva) Brasil 74.svg, 1974–1979 (as president Ernesto Geisel) Government Figueiredo logo.png, 1979–1985 (as president João Figueiredo) Goverment Sarney 1985.png, 1985–1988 (as president José Sarney, 1st term) José Sarney Goverment Logo.svg, 1988–1990 (as president José Sarney, 2nd term) Brazilian Government's logo (Fernando Collor).svg, 1990–1992 (as president Fernando Collor) Brazilian Government's logo (Itamar Franco).svg, 1992–1995 (as president Itamar Franco) Brazilian Government's logo (Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 1st term).svg, 1995–1997 (as president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 1st term) Brazilian Government's logo (Fernando Henrique Cardoso - 1997).svg, 1997–1999 (as president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 2nd term) Brazilian Government's 1999 logo (Fernando Henrique Cardoso).svg, 1999–2002 (as president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 3rd term) Brazilian Government's logo (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - 2003).svg, 2003–2005 (as president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, 1st term) Brazilian Government's logo (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva).svg, 2005-2011 (as president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, 2nd term) Brazilian Government's logo (Dilma Rousseff).svg, 2011–2015 (as president Dilma Rousseff, 1st term) Brazilian Government's logo (Dilma Rousseff, 2nd term).svg, 2015-2016 (as president Dilma Rousseff, 2nd term) Governo Federal do Brasil logo.svg, 2016–2018 (as president Michel Temer) Brazilian Government's logo (Jair Messias Bolsonaro).svg, 2018–2023 (as president Jair Bolsonaro) Brazilian Government's logo (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva - 2023).svg, 2023–2027 (as president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, 3rd term)

Executive branch

, President of the Republic ,

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

, 1 January 2023 , - , Vice President of the Republic ,

Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the List of governors of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo (state), S� ...

Brazilian Socialist Party The Brazilian Socialist Party (, PSB) is a political party in Brazil. It was founded in 1947, before being abolished by the military regime in 1965 and re-organised in 1989 after the re-democratisation of Brazil. It elected six Governors in 201 ...

, 1 January 2023

Legislative branch

The bicameral National Congress (''Congresso Nacional'') consists of: * The Federal Senate (''Senado Federal''), which has 81 seats — three members from each

States State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

, elected according to the principle of

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

to serve eight-year terms. One-third are elected after a four-year period and two-thirds are elected after the next four-year period. * The

(), which has 513 seats. Federal deputies are elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

to serve four-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve for either chamber. The seats are allotted proportionally to each state's population, but each state is eligible for a minimum of eight seats and a maximum of 70 seats. The result is a system weighted in favor of smaller states that are part of the Brazilian federation. Currently, 15 political parties are represented in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Since it is common for politicians to switch parties, the proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changes regularly. To avoid that, the

ruled in 2007 that the term belongs to the parties, and not to the representatives. File:Brasilia Congresso Nacional 05 2007 221.jpg, The National Congress building File:Senado2006.jpg,

Federal Senate of Brazil The Federal Senate () is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lords of the British Parliament, but since the Proclamation of the Republic in ...

, the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

File:Chamber of Deputies of Brazil 2.jpg,

Chamber of Deputies of Brazil The Chamber of Deputies () is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The current presiden ...

, the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

Judicial branch

Brazilian courts function under civil law

adversarial system The adversarial system (also adversary system, accusatorial system, or accusatory system) is a legal system used in the common law countries where two advocates represent their parties' case or position before an impartial person or group of peopl ...

. The Judicial branch is organized in states' and federal systems with different jurisdictions. The judges of the courts of the first instance take office after public competitive examination. The second instance judges are promoted among the first instance judges. The Justices of the superior courts are appointed by the President for life and approved by the Senate. All the judges and justices must be graduated in law. Brazilian judges must retire at the age of 70.

Federal judicial branch

The national territory is divided into five regions, which are composed of two or more states. Each region is divided into Judiciary Sections (''Seções Judiciárias'' in Portuguese), coterminous with the territory of each state, and subdivided in Judiciary Subsections (''Subseções Judiciárias''), each with a territory that may not correspond to the states' comarcas. The Judiciary subsections have federal courts of the first instance and each Region has a Federal Regional Tribunal (''Tribunal Regional Federal'') as a court of the second instance. There are special federal court systems, in which such as Labour Court (''Justiça do Trabalho'') for labor or employment-related matters and disputes, Election Justice (''Justiça Eleitoral'') for electoral matters, and

Military Justice Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

(''Justiça Militar'') for martial criminal cases, each of them with its own courts.

Superior Courts

There are two national superior courts that grant

writs In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, and ''certiorari'' are common types of writs ...

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...

in civil and criminal cases: the Superior Justice Tribunal (''Superior Tribunal de Justiça'', STJ) and the federal

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, called the

(). The STJ grants a Special Appeal (''Recurso Especial'') when a judgment of a court of the second instance offends a federal

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

disposition, or when two or more second instance courts make different rulings on the same federal statute. There are parallel courts for

labor law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...

electoral law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management ...

and

military law Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

. The STF grants Extraordinary Appeals (''Recurso Extraordinário'') when judgments of second instance courts violate the constitution. The STF is the last instance for the writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

and for reviews of judgments from the STJ. The superior courts do not analyze any factual questions in their judgments, but only the application of the law and the constitution. Facts and evidence are judged by the courts of the second instance, except in specific cases such as writs of

References

External links

* {{Authority control