# Law No. 3232 of July 29, 1957

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105648969](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105648969)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-3232-of-july-29-1957

## Summary
Law No. 3232 of July 29, 1957 is a Brazilian statute promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek that authorized a special budgetary adjustment for personnel payments within the Ministry of War. This federal law represents a specific legislative act from the mid-20th century that addressed financial allocations for military employee compensation through a special credit mechanism.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 3232, de 29 de julho de 1957
- **Alternative Name:** Lei nº 3232, de 29 de julho de 1957
- **Legal Type:** Statute (formal written document that creates law)
- **Promulgation Date:** July 29, 1957
- **Approving Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **President at Time of Approval:** Juscelino Kubitschek
- **Approval Method:** Promulgation
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 3232/1957
- **Jurisdictional Application:** Brazil (federal level)
- **Primary Subjects:** Special budgetary adjustment (Credito Especial), Ministry of War of Brazil (Ministerio Da Guerra), employee personnel matters (Pessoal), and payment procedures (Pagamento)
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-29;3232
- **Full Text URL:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3232.htm
- **Wikimedia Project:** Included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 3232 of July 29, 1957?**
Law No. 3232 is a Brazilian federal statute enacted on July 29, 1957, that authorized special budgetary credit for personnel payment obligations within the Ministry of War, representing a targeted financial adjustment during President Kubitschek's administration.

**Who approved this law and under what circumstances?**
President Juscelino Kubitschek approved the law through promulgation on July 29, 1957, exercising executive authority to address specific budgetary needs of the Ministry of War during his presidency.

**What specific matters does this law regulate?**
The law regulates four interconnected areas: special budgetary adjustments (Credito Especial), operations of the Ministry of War (Ministerio Da Guerra), employee personnel matters (Pessoal), and payment procedures (Pagamento), focusing on military compensation obligations.

**Where and in what language was this law published?**
The law was published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital at the time, in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of all federal legislation.

**How can researchers access the original text of this law?**
The complete text is available through the official Planalto government portal at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3232.htm and is cataloged in the LexML Brazil system with the unique identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-29;3232.

**What is the jurisdictional scope of this statute?**
As a federal law, it applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, affecting national-level military administration and budgetary processes across all states and territories.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 3232 of July 29, 1957 matters because it exemplifies the legislative mechanisms used during Brazil's developmentalist period under President Juscelino Kubitschek, when the government pursued accelerated modernization and infrastructure expansion. The law's focus on special budgetary credit for Ministry of War personnel payments reveals how the administration managed public finance challenges, particularly regarding military payroll obligations that required extraordinary appropriations beyond regular budget allocations. Its existence in the LexML Brazil digital repository and inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws demonstrates the ongoing importance of historical statutory documentation for legal research, administrative continuity, and transparency in Brazilian governance. The law provides insight into Cold War-era civil-military relations, showing how the federal government maintained administrative control over military expenditures through specific legislative acts. For contemporary scholars, it serves as a primary source document illustrating the relationship between executive power, legislative process, and military administration in mid-20th century Brazil, while for legal practitioners, it represents a precedent in special credit authorization that informs modern budgetary law interpretations.

## Notable For
- **Specific Historical Moment:** Enacted during Juscelino Kubitschek's presidency, a period known for the "50 years in 5" development campaign and construction of Brasília
- **Military Administration Focus:** Directly addresses Ministry of War personnel payments, reflecting the importance of military budget management in the 1950s
- **Special Credit Mechanism:** Utilizes "Credito Especial" (special credit) as a budgetary tool, a distinctive feature of Brazilian public financial law
- **Capital City Context:** Published in Rio de Janeiro, which remained the capital until Brasília's inauguration in 1960, marking it among the last federal laws issued from the former capital
- **Digital Preservation:** Cataloged in the LexML Brazil system with a permanent URN identifier, ensuring long-term digital accessibility
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Subject to dedicated curation through WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its recognized place in Brazil's legal heritage
- **Statutory Classification:** Classified as a statute, making it a formal written document that creates law, distinct from executive orders or by-laws
- **Quadruple Subject Matter:** Uniquely combines four stated subjects—special credit, Ministry of War, personnel, and payments—into a single legislative act

## Body

### Legal Identity and Classification
Law No. 3232 of July 29, 1957 holds the formal designation "Lei nº 3232, de 29 de julho de 1957" and functions as a statute within Brazil's federal legal system. As an instance of the "statute" class, it represents a formal written document that creates law through legislative enactment. The law carries the legal citation "Lei nº 3232/1957" and is composed in Brazilian Portuguese, the sole official language for federal legislation. Its alternative name mirrors the official title exactly, indicating consistent nomenclature across legal references. The statute applies to Brazil's entire jurisdiction, making it binding across all states, territories, and federal districts existing in 1957.

### Promulgation and Executive Authority
President Juscelino Kubitschek approved the law on July 29, 1957, through the determination method of promulgation, which is the formal process by which the executive branch enacts legislation. The approving authority is recorded as the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, representing the highest executive office. This approval occurred during Kubitschek's tenure, which spanned from 1956 to 1961, a period characterized by ambitious development projects and modernization initiatives. The promulgation date is precisely documented as 1957-07-29, providing a clear temporal anchor for legal historians examining budgetary legislation patterns in the 1950s.

### Subject Matter and Scope
The law addresses four primary subjects explicitly stated in its documentation:
- **Special Budgetary Adjustment (Credito Especial):** The law authorized extraordinary credit beyond regular budget allocations, a mechanism used when normal appropriations prove insufficient for mandatory obligations.
- **Ministry of War (Ministerio Da Guerra):** The legislation specifically targeted the ministry responsible for military affairs, which later evolved into the modern Ministry of Defense after governmental restructuring.
- **Employee Personnel Matters (Pessoal):** The statute concerned personnel-related expenditures within the military bureaucracy, likely covering salaries, benefits, or compensation adjustments.
- **Payment Procedures (Pagamento):** The law established or modified protocols for disbursing funds to satisfy the Ministry of War's personnel obligations.

These subjects intersect to form a narrow but critical legislative purpose: enabling the federal government to meet payroll commitments for military personnel through exceptional budgetary measures.

### Publication and Geographic Context
The law was published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital from 1763 until 1960. This geographic detail places the statute within the final years of Rio's status as the seat of federal government, just three years before the capital's relocation to the newly constructed Brasília. The publication location reflects the administrative infrastructure of the era, when all federal laws emanated from the coastal capital rather than the inland planned city that would become synonymous with Kubitschek's legacy.

### Accessibility and Digital Preservation
Researchers can access the complete text through multiple official channels. The primary source URL is https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3232.htm, hosted on the Planalto portal which maintains Brazil's federal legislation archive. The law is systematically cataloged in the LexML Brazil system, a structured markup language for legal documents, with the permanent identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-29;3232. This URN follows the LexML standard for Brazilian legislation, encoding jurisdiction (federal), document type (lei), date (1957-07-29), and number (3232). The digital preservation ensures that the statute remains accessible for administrative, judicial, and academic purposes decades after its enactment.

### Jurisdictional and Linguistic Parameters
The statute applies exclusively to Brazil's jurisdiction, meaning its provisions govern only entities and persons under Brazilian federal authority. The language of the work is Brazilian Portuguese, which differs from European Portuguese in orthography, terminology, and certain grammatical constructions. This linguistic specification is crucial for accurate legal interpretation, as subtle language variations can affect statutory construction. The law's jurisdiction is referenced with a timestamp of 2021-01-28, indicating recent verification of its applicability status.

### Documentation and Cataloging Systems
Law No. 3232 appears on the focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative dedicated to organizing and improving coverage of Brazilian legislation. This inclusion signifies recognition of the law's place in Brazil's legal historical record. The project likely tracks the law's citations, amendments, and judicial interpretations over time. The statute's documentation includes multiple reference points verifying its metadata: the LexML base URL (https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-29;3232) and the Planalto legislation portal, both accessed for verification on dates including 2021-01-28 and 2021-02-17.

### Historical and Administrative Significance
The law emerged during Brazil's Second Republic (1946-1964), a democratic period marked by industrialization and state-led development. The Ministry of War's need for special credit suggests either unexpected personnel costs or systematic budget shortfalls requiring legislative intervention. Such statutes were common tools for managing public finances before the comprehensive budget reforms of later decades. The law's specificity—targeting a single ministry for a defined purpose—contrasts with omnibus legislation that addresses multiple governmental functions, indicating a piecemeal approach to budget management typical of the era.

### Relationship to Broader Legal Framework
As a statute, Law No. 3232 operates within Brazil's hierarchy of legal norms, subordinate to the Constitution but binding on all lower-level administrative acts. Its creation followed draft legislation processes within the National Congress, though the source material does not detail committee review or voting records. The law's focus on "Credito Especial" places it within a category of budgetary legislation that permits executive flexibility while maintaining legislative oversight, a balance central to separation of powers principles. The statute's permanence in official repositories demonstrates Brazil's commitment to legal transparency and historical record-keeping, allowing modern analysts to trace the evolution of military expenditure policies and special credit mechanisms through primary sources.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1957-07-29;3232)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=3232&ano=1957&data=29/07/1957&ato=84aATVE9UMNRVT497)