# Law No. 2747 of March 13, 1956

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649579](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649579)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-2747-of-march-13-1956

## Summary
Law No. 2747 of March 13, 1956 is a Brazilian federal statute that exempts companies and individual firms operating road traffic from the obligation to provide free transport of postal bags. Enacted during the presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek and published in Rio de Janeiro, this law specifically addresses the relationship between private road transport operators and postal service obligations in Brazil.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 2747, de 13 de março de 1956
- **Publication Date:** March 13, 1956
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil under President Juscelino Kubitschek
- **Legal Classification:** Federal statute (instance of "statute")
- **Core Provision:** Exempts enterprises or individual firms exploiting road traffic from the free transport of postal bags ("DESOBRIGA AS EMPRESAS OU FIRMAS INDIVIDUAIS QUE EXPLORAM O TRAFEGO RODOVIARIO DO TRANSPORTE GRATUITO DE MALAS DOS CORREIOS")
- **Main Subjects:** Transport (stated as "Transporte") and obligation (stated as "Obrigatoriedade")
- **Jurisdiction:** Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro (then the federal capital)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 2747/1956
- **LexML Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-03-13;2747
- **Official URL:** Available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2747.htm
- **Wikimedia Project:** On focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**What does Law No. 2747 of March 13, 1956 regulate?**  
The law regulates transport obligations by specifically exempting road transport companies and individual operators from the mandatory free carriage of postal bags, removing a previous requirement that these private entities subsidize postal logistics.

**Who enacted this law and when?**  
President Juscelino Kubitschek promulgated the law on March 13, 1956, during his administration's first year, representing a federal legislative act of the Brazilian presidency.

**What type of legal document is this?**  
This is a federal statute, which is a formal written document that creates law and serves as the concrete manifestation of statutory law in Brazil's legal system.

**Where can the full text of the law be accessed?**  
The complete text is publicly available through the official Brazilian government portal at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2747.htm and is indexed in the LexML.gov.br legislative repository.

**In what language was the law originally published?**  
The law was published in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, using legal terminology specific to Brazilian statutory drafting.

**What is the formal legal citation for this statute?**  
The standard citation is "Lei nº 2747/1956" or "Lei nº 2747, de 13 de março de 1956," following Brazilian legislative citation conventions.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 2747 of March 13, 1956 matters because it represents a specific policy decision clarifying the boundaries between private commercial road transport operations and public postal service obligations in Brazil. By exempting road traffic operators from the free transport of postal bags, the law shifted the cost burden of postal logistics, ensuring that private enterprises would not be compelled to provide uncompensated services that could affect their commercial viability. Enacted during the Kubitschek administration—a period marked by ambitious development goals including the construction of Brasília and rapid industrialization—the law reflects the government's approach to regulating emerging transport sectors while managing state-owned enterprise responsibilities. Its inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws underscores its role in the documented statutory framework governing Brazilian transport policy. As a public domain document under the edict of government doctrine, the law exemplifies Brazil's commitment to transparent governance, ensuring that citizens and businesses have unrestricted access to the legal rules that shape commercial transport obligations. The statute's continued availability through official digital repositories like Planalto.gov.br and LexML.gov.br demonstrates how historical legislation remains accessible for legal research, administrative reference, and understanding the evolution of Brazil's regulatory state.

## Notable For
- **Specific Exemption:** Uniquely exempts road transport operators from postal bag carriage obligations, representing a targeted deregulation rather than broad transport policy
- **Historical Context:** Enacted during Juscelino Kubitschek's presidency (1956-1961), a transformative period that included the move of Brazil's capital to Brasília
- **Capital City Publication:** Published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital until Brasília's inauguration in 1960, making it a product of the pre-transfer federal administration
- **LexML Integration:** Assigned the standardized identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-03-13;2747 within Brazil's legislative markup language system
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Explicitly tracked by WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its recognized status within Brazil's statutory canon
- **Dual Subject Classification:** Categorized under both "transport" and "obligation" in legal metadata, highlighting its intersection of sectoral regulation and duty imposition
- **Public Domain Status:** As a Brazilian federal statute, it is in the public domain under the edict of government doctrine, ensuring free public access without copyright restrictions
- **Repository Availability:** Maintained in both the Planalto.gov.br civil legislation archive and LexML legislative repository, ensuring long-term digital preservation

## Body

### Legislative History and Enactment
Law No. 2747 emerged from Brazil's federal legislative process on March 13, 1956, through promulgation by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. President Juscelino Kubitschek, who had assumed office in January 1956, signed the statute early in his administration, which would later become known for the "50 years in 5" development program and the construction of Brasília. The law's enactment followed standard Brazilian legislative procedures, where draft laws undergo review before becoming formal statutes. The determination method was explicitly identified as "promulgation," the formal act by which the executive branch enacts legislation. The law bears the date 1956-03-13 as both its approval and publication date, indicating same-day promulgation and release. This timing places the law in a period when Rio de Janeiro still functioned as the federal capital, as Brasília would not be inaugurated until April 21, 1960.

### Legal Classification and Structure
As an instance of "statute," Law No. 2747 belongs to the category of formal written documents that create law in Brazil's legal system. Statutes function as manifestations of statutory law and are composed of legal norms that establish binding rules. In global legal taxonomy, statutes are classified as subclasses of written works, documents, and rules, distinguishing them from broader concepts like "legislation" or "legal act." The law is equivalent to the schema.org/Legislation class used in structured web data. In library systems, statutes are cataloged under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02. The statute's copyright status falls under the public domain in the United States and France through the edict of government doctrine, which establishes that official legal documents are not copyrightable. This ensures that Law No. 2747 remains freely accessible to the public, courts, and administrators without restriction.

### Scope and Regulatory Content
The law's substantive provision, captured in its digest, states: "DESOBRIGA AS EMPRESAS OU FIRMAS INDIVIDUAIS QUE EXPLORAM O TRAFEGO RODOVIARIO DO TRANSPORTE GRATUITO DE MALAS DOS CORREIOS." This clause explicitly removes the obligation for road transport operators to carry postal bags without compensation. The statute addresses two primary subjects: transport (stated as "Transporte") and obligation (stated as "Obrigatoriedade"), placing it at the intersection of transport regulation and duty imposition. By exempting private enterprises from this service requirement, the law affected the business operations of road transport companies and the logistics planning of the postal service (Correios). The exemption applies to "empresas ou firmas individuais," covering both corporate entities and individual business owners operating in the road transport sector.

### Publication and Official Availability
The law was published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital from 1763 until 1960. Publication occurred on March 13, 1956, making the text immediately available to the public and enforceable throughout the national territory. The original publication language was Brazilian Portuguese, using the formal legal terminology characteristic of Brazilian statutory drafting. Today, the law remains accessible through multiple official channels. The primary source is the Planalto.gov.br portal, specifically at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2747.htm, where it is archived in the civil legislation collection covering 1950-1969. Additionally, the law is indexed in the LexML Brazil system with the persistent identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-03-13;2747, following the URN:Lex standard for legislative identifiers. These digital preservation efforts ensure that the statute remains available for legal research, administrative enforcement, and historical analysis.

### Jurisdictional and Linguistic Context
Law No. 2747 applies to the entire jurisdiction of the Federative Republic of Brazil, a federal republic occupying 8,515,767 km² in South America. Brazil declared independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822, and operates under a presidential representative democracy system. The country's official language is Brazilian Portuguese, which the law employs in its text. Brazil's legal system is founded on the Constitution of Brazil, effective since October 5, 1988, though this law predates the current constitution by over three decades. The statute was enacted when Brazil's government was centralized in Rio de Janeiro, before the administrative shift to Brasília. As a federal law, it binds all states and municipalities within Brazil's federal system, which includes 26 states plus one Federal District.

### Administrative and Bibliographic Identification
The statute carries multiple identifiers across knowledge management systems. Its legal citation "Lei nº 2747/1956" follows Brazilian conventions combining law number and year. The LexML identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-03-13;2747 provides a machine-readable URN conforming to international standards for legislative identification. Within Wikidata, the law is tracked on the focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active curation within the Wikimedia ecosystem. The law's description in Wikidata is simply "Brazilian law," connecting it to the broader category of Brazilian legislation. The statute's creation resulted from the legislative process, following draft laws and culminating in promulgation by the executive branch. As a formal written document, it serves as a manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's legal framework, composed of legal norms that establish binding obligations and exemptions for road transport operators.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-03-13;2747)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=2747&ano=1956&data=13/03/1956&ato=038c3ZE50dNRVTa58)
3. LexML Brasil