Part 166

Article 37. A bill, after being passed in one of the chambers, shall be submitted to the other, and, if the latter shall approve the same, it shall send it to the executive, who, if he approve it, shall sanction and promulgate it. § 1. If, however, the President of the Republic shall consider it unconstitutional, or contrary to the good of the nation, he shall refuse his sanction to the same within 10 working days, counted from that on which he received it (the bill), and shall return it, within the same period, to the chamber in which it originated, with his reasons for his refusal. § 2. The failure of the executive to signify his disapproval within the above-named 10 days shall be considered as an approval, and in case his sanction be refused after the close of the session of the Congress, the President shall make public his reasons therefor.

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§ 3. The bill sent back to the chamber where it originated shall be discussed and voted upon by call of names, and shall be considered as passed if it obtain two-thirds of the votes of the members present; and, in this case, it shall be sent to the other chamber, whence, if it receive the same majority, it shall return, as a law, to the executive to be formally promulgated. § 4. The sanction and promulgation shall be effected in the following forms: (1) "The national Congress enacts and I sanction the following law (or resolution)." (2) "The national Congress enacts and I promulgate the following law (or resolution)."

Article 38. If the law be not promulgated by the President of the Republic within 48 hours, in the cases provided for in §§ 2 and 3 of the preceding article, the president of the Senate, or the vice president, if the former shall not do so in the same space of time, shall promulgate it, making use of the following formula: "I, president (or vice president) of the Senate, make known to whomsoever these presents may come, that the national Congress enacts and promulgates the following law (or resolution)."

Article. 39. A bill from one chamber, amended in the other, shall return to the former, which, if it accept the amendments, shall send it, changed to conform with the same, to the executive. § 1. In the contrary case, it shall go back to the amending chamber, where the alterations shall be considered as approved, if they receive the vote of two-thirds of the members present; in the latter case, the bill shall return to the chamber where it originated, and there the amendments can be rejected only by a two-thirds vote. § 2. If the alterations be rejected by such vote, the bill shall be submitted without them to the approval of the executive.

Article 40. Bills finally rejected or not approved, shall not be presented again in the same legislative session.

Article 41. The executive power shall be exercised by the President of the United States of Brazil, as elective chief of the nation. § 1. The Vice President, elected simultaneously with the President, shall serve in place of the latter in case of impediment and succeed him in case of vacancy in the Presidency. § 2. In case of impediment or vacancy in the Vice Presidency, the following officers, in the order named, shall be called to the Presidency: The vice president of the Senate, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, the president of the federal supreme court. § 3. The following are the conditions of eligibility to the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the Republic: (1) Must be a native of Brazil. (2) Must be in the exercise of political rights. (3) Must be more than 35 years of age.

Article 42. In case of vacancy from any cause in the Presidency or Vice Presidency before the expiration of the first 2 years of the Presidential term, a new election shall be held.

Article 43. The President shall hold his office during 4 years, and is not eligible for reelection for the next succeeding term. § 1. The Vice President who shall fill the Presidency during the last year of the Presidential term shall not be eligible to the Presidency for the next term of that office. § 2. On the same day on which his Presidential term shall cease the President shall, without fail, cease to exercise the functions of his office, and the newly elected President shall at once succeed him. § 3. If the latter should be hindered or should fail to do so, the succession shall be effected in accordance with §§ 1 and 2 of article 41. § 4. The first Presidential term shall expire on the 15th of November, 1894.

Article 44. On taking possession of his office, the President, in a session of the Congress, or, if it be not assembled, before the federal supreme court, shall pronounce the following affirmation: "I promise to maintain the federal Constitution and comply with its provisions with perfect loyalty, to promote the general welfare of the Republic, to observe its laws, and support the union, integrity, and independence of the nation."

Article 45. The President and Vice President shall not leave the national territory without the permission of the Congress, under penalty of loss of office.

Article 46. The President and Vice President shall receive the salary fixed by the Congress in the preceding Presidential term.

Article 47. The President and Vice President shall be chosen by direct suffrage of the nation and an absolute majority of the votes. § 1. The election shall take place on the first day of March in the last year of the Presidential term, and the counting of the votes cast at the different precincts shall at once be made in the respective capitals of the States and in the federal capital. The Congress shall make the count at its first session of the same year, with any number of members present. § 2. If none of those voted for shall have received an absolute majority, the Congress shall elect, by a majority of votes of those present, one of the two who, in the direct election, shall have received the highest number of votes. In case of a tie the older shall be considered elected. § 3. The manner of the election and of the counting of the votes shall be regulated by ordinary legislation. § 4. The relatives, both by consanguinity and by marriage, in the first and second degrees, of the President and Vice President shall be ineligible for the offices of President and Vice President, provided the said officials are in office at the time of the election or have left the office even 6 months before.

Article 48. To the President of the Republic shall belong the exclusive right to: (1) Sanction, promulgate, and make public the laws and resolutions of the Congress; issue decrees, instructions, and regulations for their faithful execution. (2) Choose and dismiss at will the cabinet officers. (3) Exercise or appoint some one to exercise supreme command over the land and naval forces of the United States of Brazil, as well as over the local police, when called to arms for the internal or external defense of the Union. (4) Govern and distribute, under the laws of the Congress, according to the necessities of the National Government, the land and naval forces. (5) Dispose of the offices, both military and civil, of a federal character, with the exceptions specified in the Constitution. (6) Pardon crimes and commute penalties for offenses subject to federal jurisdiction, save in the cases mentioned in article 34, No. 28, and article 52, § 2. (7) Declare war and make peace, under the provisions of article 34, No. 11. (8) Declare war at once in case of foreign invasion or aggression.

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(9) Give an annual statement to the national Congress of the condition of the country, with a recommendation of pressing provisions and reforms, through a message, which he shall send to the secretary of the Senate on the day of the opening of the legislative session. (10) Convoke the Congress in extra session. (11) Appoint the federal judges when proposed by the supreme court. (12) Appoint the members of the federal supreme court and ministers of the diplomatic corps, with the approval of the senate; and, in the absence of the Congress, appoint them in commission until considered by the senate. (13) Appoint the other members of the diplomatic corps and consular agents. (14) Maintain relations with foreign states. (15) Declare, directly, or through his responsible agents, a state of siege at any point of the national territory, in case of foreign aggression or serious internal disturbance. (Article 6, No.3; article 34, No. 21; and article 80.) (16) Set on foot international negotiations, celebrate agreements, conventions, and treaties, always ad referendum to the Congress, and approve those made by the States in conformity with article 65, submitting them when necessary to the authority of the Congress.

Article 49. The President of the Republic shall be assisted by the ministers of state (cabinet officers), agents of his confidence, who sign the acts and preside over their respective departments into which the federal administration is divided.

Article 50. The cabinet ministers shall not exercise any other employment or function of a public nature, be eligible to the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the Union, or be elected deputy or senator. _Sole paragraph._—Any deputy or senator, who shall accept the position of cabinet minister, shall lose his seat in the respective chamber, and a new election shall at once be held, in which he shall not be voted for.

Article 51. The cabinet ministers shall not appear at the sessions of the Congress, and shall communicate with that body in writing only or by personal conference with the committees of the chambers. The annual report of the ministers shall be addressed to the President of the Republic, and distributed to all the members of the Congress.

Article 52. The cabinet ministers shall not be responsible to the Congress or to the courts for advice given to the President of the Republic. § 1. They shall be responsible, nevertheless, with respect to their acts, for crimes defined in the law. § 2. For common crimes and those for which they are responsible they shall be prosecuted and tried by the federal supreme court, and for those committed jointly with the President of the Republic, by the authority competent to judge this latter.

Article 53. The President of the United States of Brazil shall be brought to trial and judgment, after the Chamber of Deputies shall have decided that he should be tried on the charges made against him, in the federal supreme court, in the case of common crimes, and in those of responsibility, in the Senate. _Sole paragraph_.—As soon as it shall be decided to try him on the charges brought, the President shall be suspended in the exercise of the duties of his office.

Article 54. Crimes of responsibility on the part of the President of the Republic are such as are directed against: (1) The political existence of the Union. (2) The Constitution and the form of the Federal Government. (3) The free exercise of the political powers. (4) The legal enjoyment and exercise of political or individual rights. (5) The internal security of the country. (6) The purity of the administration. (7) The constitutional keeping and use of the public funds. (8) The financial legislation enacted by the Congress. § 1. These offenses shall be defined in a special law. § 2. Another law shall provide for the charges, the trial, and the judgment. § 3. Both these laws shall be enacted in the first session of the first Congress.

Article 55. The judicial power of the Union shall be lodged in a federal supreme court, sitting in the capital of the Republic, and as many inferior federal courts and tribunals, distributed through the country, as the Congress shall create.

Article 56. The federal supreme court shall be composed of fifteen justices, appointed under the provisions of article 48, No. 12, from among the oldest thirty citizens of well-known knowledge and reputation who may be eligible to the Senate.

Article 57. The federal justices shall hold office for life, being removable solely by judicial sentence. § 1. Their salaries shall be fixed by law of the Congress, and can not be diminished. § 2. The Senate shall try the members of the federal supreme court for crimes of responsibility, and this latter the lower federal judges.

Article 58. The federal courts shall choose their presidents from among their own members, and shall organize their respective clerical corps. § 1. In these corps the appointment and dismissal of the respective clerks, as well as the filling of the judicial offices in the respective judicial districts, shall belong to the presidents of the respective courts. § 2. The President of the Republic shall appoint from among the members of the federal supreme court the attorney-general of the Republic, whose duties shall be defined by law.

Article 59. To the federal supreme court shall belong the duty of: (1) Trying and judging by original and exclusive jurisdiction: (a) The President of the Republic for common crimes, and the cabinet ministers in the cases specified in article 52. (b) The ministers of the diplomatic corps for common crimes and those of responsibility. (c) Cases and disputes between the States and the Union, or between the States one with another. (d) Disputes and claims between foreign states and the Union, or between foreign nations and the States. (e) Conflicts between the federal courts one with another, or between these and those of the States, as well as those between the courts of one State and those of another. (2) Deciding, on appeal, questions pronounced upon by the lower federal courts and tribunals, as well as those mentioned in § 1 of the present article and in article 60. (3) Reviewing the proceedings of finished trials, under the provisions of article 81. § 1. Decisions of State courts in last appeal can be carried to the federal supreme court: (a) When the validity or application of the federal laws or treaties is called in question and the decision of the State court shall be against the same. (b) When the validity of laws or acts of the governments of the States in respect to the Constitution or of the federal laws is contested and the State court shall have decided in favor of the validity of the acts or laws in question. § 2. In the cases which involve the application of the laws of the States, the federal court shall consult the jurisprudence of the local tribunals, and vice versa, the State court shall consider that of the federal tribunals when the interpretation of the laws of the Union is involved.

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Article 60. It shall belong to the federal courts to decide: (a) Cases in which the plaintiff or the defendant shall rest the case on some provision of the federal Constitution. (b) All suits brought against the Government of the Union or the national treasury based on constitutional provisions, on the laws and regulations of the executive power, or on contracts made with the said Government. (c) Suits arising from compensations, claims, indemnification of damages, or any others whatsoever brought by the Government of the Union against private individuals, and vice versa. (d) Litigations between a State and the citizens of another, or between citizens of different States having differences in their laws. (e) Suits between foreign states and Brazilian citizens. (f) Actions begun by foreigners, and based either on contracts with the Federal Government or on conventions or treaties of the Union with other nations. (g) Questions of maritime law and navigation, whether on the sea or on the rivers and lakes of the country. (h) Questions of international law, whether criminal or civil. (i) Political crimes. § 1. Congress is forbidden to commit any part of the federal jurisdiction to the State courts. § 2. Sentences and orders of the federal judges will be executed by federal court officers, and the local police shall assist them when called upon by the same.

Article 61. The decisions of the State courts or tribunals in matters within their competence shall put an end to the suits and questions, except as to (1) habeas corpus, or (2) effects of a foreigner deceased in cases not provided for by convention or treaty. In such cases there shall be voluntary recourse to the federal supreme court.

Article 62. The State courts shall not have the power to intervene in questions submitted to the federal tribunals, or to annul, alter, or suspend the sentences or orders of these latter; and, reciprocally, the federal judiciary can not interfere in questions submitted to the State courts, or annul, alter, or suspend their decisions or orders, except in the cases provided in this Constitution.

Article 63. Each State shall be governed by the constitution and laws which it shall adopt, respect being observed for the constitutional principles of the Union.

Article 64. The unexplored mines and wild lands lying within the States shall belong to these States respectively; and to the Union only as much territory as may be necessary for the defense of the frontiers, for fortifications, military works, and federal railways. _Sole paragraph_.—The national properties, not necessary for the service of the Union, shall pass to the domain of the States in whose territory they may be situated.

Article 65. The States shall have the right to: (1) Conclude agreements and conventions among themselves, if such be not of a political character. (Article 48, No. 16.) (2) Exercise in general any and every power or right not denied expressly by the Constitution, or implicitly in its express terms.

Article 66. It is forbidden to the States to: (1) Refuse to recognize public documents of the Union, or of any of the States, of a legislative, administrative, or judicial character. (2) Reject the currency or notes issued by banks, which circulate by act of the Federal Government. (3) Make or declare war, one with another, or make reprisals. (4) Refuse the extradition of criminals demanded by the justice of other States, or of the Federal District, in conformity with the laws of Congress which relate to this subject. (Article 41, No. 32.)

Article 67. Save the restrictions specified in the Constitution, and the federal laws, the Federal District shall be governed directly by the municipal authorities. _Sole paragraph_.—Expenses of a local character in the capital of the Republic must be provided for exclusively by the municipal authorities.

Article 68. The States shall organize themselves in such a manner as to assure the autonomy of the municipalities in everything that concerns their peculiar interests.

Article 69. The following shall be Brazilian citizens: (1) Natives of Brazil, though of foreign parentage (father), provided he be not in the service of his nation. (2) Sons of a Brazilian father, and illegitimate sons of a Brazilian mother, born in foreign parts, if they take up their residence (domicile) in the republic. (3) Sons of a Brazilian father who may be in another country in the service of the Republic, although they do not make their domicile in Brazil. (4) Foreigners, who, being in Brazil on the 15th of November, 1889, shall not declare, within 6 months from the time when the Constitution enters into force, their desire to preserve their original nationality. (5) Foreigners who possess property (real estate) in Brazil and are married to Brazilian women, or have Brazilian children, provided they reside in Brazil, unless they shall declare their intention of not changing their nationality. (6) Foreigners naturalized in any other way.

Article 70. Citizens of more than 21 years of age, and registered according to law, shall be electors. § 1. The following shall not be registered as electors for federal or State elections: (1) Beggars. (2) Persons ignorant of the alphabet. (3) Soldiers on pay, except alumni of the military schools of higher instruction. (4) Members of monastic orders, companies, congregations, or communities of whatsoever denomination, who are subject to vows of obedience, rule, or statute, which implies the surrender of individual liberty. § 2. Citizens who can not be registered shall not be eligible.

Article 71. The rights of the Brazilian citizen can be suspended or lost only in the following cases: § 1. The rights may be suspended: (a) For physical or moral incapacity. (b) For criminal conviction, during the operation of the sentence. § 2. They may be lost: (a) By naturalization in a foreign country. (b) By acceptance of employment or pension from a foreign power, without permission of the federal executive. § 3. The means of reacquiring lost rights of the Brazilian citizen shall be specified by federal law.