# Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649305](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649305)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-3216-of-july-19-1957

## Summary
Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek that addresses matters concerning municipal prefectures, donations, and land issues specifically related to the state of Minas Gerais. As a formal written enactment, it represents a concrete manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's legal system and remains accessible through official government archives.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 3216, de 19 de julho de 1957
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 3216/1957
- **Promulgation Date:** July 19, 1957
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil under President Juscelino Kubitschek
- **Determination Method:** Promulgation
- **Jurisdiction:** Brazil (applies to entire national territory)
- **Instance Of:** Statute (formal written document that creates law, subclass of written work, document, and rule)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-19;3216
- **Main Subjects:** Municipal prefecture (Prefeitura Municipal), gift/donation (Doação), Minas Gerais (Estado De Minas Gerais (Mg)), and land/terrain (Terreno)
- **Digital Availability:** Full text available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3216.htm
- **Wikimedia Project:** On focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws
- **Copyright Status:** As a statute, it is in the public domain in the United States under the edict of government doctrine and similarly in France
- **Classification Codes:** Dewey Decimal 342.057 and 348.02; Library of Congress Authority ID sh85127611; GND ID 4020660-9

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957?**
Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957 is a Brazilian federal statute that creates legal rules governing municipal prefectures, donations, and land matters in Minas Gerais, enacted as a formal written document during President Juscelino Kubitschek's administration.

**What specific topics does this law address?**
The law focuses on four main areas: municipal prefecture operations (Prefeitura Municipal), donation procedures (Doação), provisions specific to the state of Minas Gerais, and land or terrain issues (Terreno), making it a specialized piece of legislation rather than a general law.

**Who signed this law into effect and when?**
President Juscelino Kubitschek promulgated the law on July 19, 1957, exercising executive authority to enact legislation passed through Brazil's federal legislative process during his presidency.

**Where can I find the original text of this law?**
The complete official text is digitally preserved and accessible at the Planalto government portal: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3216.htm, which hosts Brazil's federal legislation from 1950-1969.

**How is this law classified in legal databases?**
It is classified as a statute (instance of a formal written law-creating document), cataloged under LexML Brazil with identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-19;3216, and tracked by WikiProject Brazilian Laws for documentation purposes.

**In what language was the law originally written?**
The law was drafted and promulgated in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, which is the primary language for all federal legislative acts and statutory instruments.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957 matters because it exemplifies Brazil's statutory law framework during a pivotal developmental era under President Kubitschek, whose administration (1956-1961) emphasized rapid industrialization and infrastructure modernization. As a federal statute addressing municipal governance and land transactions in Minas Gerais, it reflects the central government's role in structuring local administrative powers and property regulations during Brazil's mid-20th century expansion. Its preservation in official digital archives demonstrates Brazil's commitment to legal transparency and public access to historical legislation, ensuring that citizens, researchers, and legal practitioners can examine the foundational rules governing municipal operations and land donations from this period. The law's inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws highlights its significance as a documented piece of the country's legislative history, contributing to the broader understanding of how Brazil's legal system evolved to manage subnational governance and property rights. Furthermore, as a statute, it carries the weight of formal law creation—distinct from regulations or decrees—making it a primary source for understanding the legal obligations and authorities of municipal prefectures in Minas Gerais during the late 1950s. The public domain status of such statutes ensures that these historical legal texts remain freely accessible, supporting democratic principles of open government and enabling unrestricted scholarly analysis of Brazil's legislative evolution.

## Notable For
- **Specific Geographic Focus:** Unlike general federal laws, this statute specifically targets the state of Minas Gerais, making it a regionally tailored piece of legislation
- **Municipal Governance Subject:** Directly addresses the legal framework for municipal prefectures (Prefeitura Municipal), a key level of Brazilian administrative structure
- **Dual Property Focus:** Combines provisions for both donations (Doação) and land/terrain (Terreno) issues in a single legislative act
- **Kubitschek Era Legislation:** Enacted during the presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek, a period marked by the "50 years in 5" development campaign and construction of Brasília
- **Digital Preservation:** Maintained in multiple official repositories including the Planalto portal and LexML Brazil system with a permanent URN identifier
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Recognized as significant enough to be tracked by WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its value for legal historical research
- **Public Domain Accessibility:** As an edict of government, it is exempt from copyright restrictions, ensuring permanent public ownership and unrestricted distribution
- **Formal Statutory Classification:** Classified as a statute rather than a lesser legal instrument, representing the highest form of written law creation in Brazil's legal hierarchy
- **Permanent LexML Identifier:** Assigned a unique URN (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-19;3216) in Brazil's standardized legal document identification system
- **Rio de Janeiro Publication:** Published in Rio de Janeiro, which was Brazil's capital at the time (the capital moved to Brasília in 1960, three years after this law's enactment)

## Body

### Legislative Identity and Classification
Law No. 3216 of July 19, 1957 is formally titled "Lei nº 3216, de 19 de julho de 1957" and carries the legal citation "Lei nº 3216/1957." As an instance of a statute, it belongs to the category of formal written documents that create law, encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws. Statutes function as manifestations of statutory law and are classified as subclasses of written works, documents, and rules within legal taxonomy systems. This particular law operates within Brazil's federal jurisdiction and applies to the entire national territory, though its substantive provisions focus specifically on the state of Minas Gerais. The law was created through the legislative process and promulgated by executive authority, following draft law stages before becoming a binding statutory instrument. Its composition includes legal norms as constituent parts, and it serves as an official record of legal rules enacted by the national government.

### Promulgation and Historical Context
President Juscelino Kubitschek promulgated Law No. 3216 on July 19, 1957, using the determination method of promulgation to enact the legislation. This occurred during Kubitschek's transformative presidency (1956-1961), a period when Brazil pursued accelerated economic development and began constructing its new capital, Brasília. The promulgation took place in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital city until the administrative transition to Brasília on April 22, 1960. The law's enactment falls within Brazil's post-war democratic period, preceding the military coup that would establish authoritarian rule from 1964 to 1985. As a federal statute from this era, it reflects the legislative priorities of strengthening municipal governance structures and clarifying property transaction procedures during a time of rapid urbanization and industrial growth.

### Subject Matter and Scope
The statute addresses four interconnected subject areas explicitly stated in its documentation. First, it governs aspects of municipal prefecture (Prefeitura Municipal) operations, establishing legal parameters for local administrative bodies in Brazil's federated structure. Second, it regulates donation (Doação) procedures, creating rules for the legal transfer of property or assets without consideration. Third, it contains specific provisions for the state of Minas Gerais, indicating either geographic limitations or special applications within that state's jurisdiction. Fourth, it addresses land and terrain (Terreno) matters, covering property rights, land use, or territorial issues. This combination of subjects suggests the law may have been designed to resolve specific municipal land donation questions arising in Minas Gerais during the 1950s development boom.

### Publication and Documentation Details
The law was officially published in Rio de Janeiro on July 19, 1957, the same date as its promulgation. It is written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language designated for all federal legislation. The document carries a permanent identifier in Brazil's LexML system: urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-19;3216, which follows the URN (Uniform Resource Name) standard for legal documents. This identifier breaks down as: Brazilian federal law (lei) dated July 19, 1957, numbered 3216. The law is cataloged in library systems under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02, which correspond to statutory law and legislation categories. Authority control systems including the Library of Congress (sh85127611) and the German GND (4020660-9) recognize the general concept of statutes, under which this specific law falls.

### Digital Access and Preservation
The complete text of Law No. 3216 remains publicly accessible through Brazil's official digital infrastructure. The primary source URL is https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3216.htm, hosted on the Planalto government portal which archives federal legislation from 1950-1969. This accessibility aligns with the public domain status of statutes in many jurisdictions, including the United States and France, where official government edicts are not copyrightable. The law is also indexed in the LexML Brazil system, a standardized repository for Brazilian legislation that uses URN identifiers for permanent citation. Additionally, the statute appears on the focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative dedicated to documenting and organizing information about Brazil's legislative corpus, indicating its recognized importance for legal historical research and public knowledge.

### Legal and Jurisdictional Framework
As a federal statute, Law No. 3216 operates within Brazil's federative republic structure, which divides power between national and state governments. Brazil's legal system, established under the 1988 Constitution (though this law predates that constitution), recognizes statutes as primary sources of law created through legislative authority. The law applies to Brazil's entire jurisdiction, though its Minas Gerais-specific provisions may have limited geographic application for certain articles. The statute exists within a broader legal ecosystem where it can be amended, repealed, or superseded by subsequent legislation. Its continued presence in official archives suggests it remains at least partially in force or historically relevant for understanding the evolution of municipal law and property regulations in Brazil.

### International and Semantic Identifiers
Beyond national systems, Law No. 3216 benefits from global knowledge organization frameworks. The concept of statutes is equivalent to the Schema.org Legislation class, enabling structured data representation on the web. While the specific law may not have individual global identifiers, it falls under categories with extensive international documentation: the statute concept appears in over 100 Wikipedia language editions, holds BabelNet ID 00050588n, and is referenced in major encyclopedias including the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary, and Great Russian Encyclopedia. The law's existence within this globally recognized category facilitates cross-jurisdictional legal research and comparative law studies. Its documentation in Portuguese aligns with Brazil's role in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, where legal terminology and statutory concepts share common linguistic foundations.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-19;3216)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=3216&ano=1957&data=19/07/1957&ato=c2fkXSE9UMNRVT712)