# Law No. 3649 of October 31, 1959

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105648589](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105648589)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-3649-of-october-31-1959

## Summary
Law No. 3649 of October 31, 1959, is a Brazilian federal statute that regulates the distribution and delivery of road quotas (*quotas rodoviárias*) to municipalities. Promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek in Rio de Janeiro, the law serves as a formal legal instrument within the Brazilian legislative framework to manage infrastructure-related resource allocation.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 3649, de 31 de outubro de 1959
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 3649/1959
- **Date of Promulgation:** October 31, 1959
- **Jurisdiction:** Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Approving Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil (signed by Juscelino Kubitschek)
- **Primary Subject:** Distribution of road quotas to municipalities
- **Classification:** Statute (subclass of written work, document, and rule)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- **LexML Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1959-10-31;3649
- **Official Source:** Available via the Planalto government website (planalto.gov.br)
- **Project Affiliation:** WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**What is the main purpose of Law No. 3649 of 1959?**
The law was enacted to establish the rules for the delivery and distribution of road quotas to Brazilian municipalities. It focuses on the administrative "disposal" or allocation of these resources to local government levels.

**Who was the head of state responsible for this law?**
Law No. 3649 was approved and promulgated by Juscelino Kubitschek, who served as the President of Brazil during its enactment in 1959.

**Where can the official text of Law No. 3649 be accessed?**
The full text is hosted on the official website of the Presidency of Brazil (Planalto) and is indexed in the LexML Brazil database under the URN `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1959-10-31;3649`.

**How is this law categorized within legal systems?**
It is classified as a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law. It is considered a manifestation of statutory law and is composed of legal norms.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 3649 is a significant administrative instrument that formalizes the financial and resource-based relationship between the Brazilian federal government and its municipalities regarding transportation infrastructure. By regulating "quotas rodoviárias," the law directly impacted the development of local road networks across Brazil's vast territory of 8.5 million km². As a statute, it provides the concrete, written evidence of legal rules that govern society, ensuring that municipal mandates are documented, accessible, and enforceable. Its enactment during the Kubitschek administration—a period noted for intense modernization and infrastructure development—highlights its role in the historical expansion of the Brazilian state.

## Notable For
- **Presidential Association:** Signed by Juscelino Kubitschek, the president famous for the "Fifty years in five" development plan and the construction of Brasília.
- **Historical Timing:** Promulgated in Rio de Janeiro less than six months before the capital of Brazil was officially moved to Brasília on April 22, 1960.
- **Infrastructure Focus:** Specifically targets the municipal level of government for the distribution of road-related resources, reflecting Brazil's federal structure.
- **Standardized Indexing:** Recognized in global and national legal databases, including LexML and the WikiProject Brazilian Laws focus list.

## Body

### Legislative Context and Promulgation
Law No. 3649 was enacted on October 31, 1959, in Rio de Janeiro, which served as the capital of Brazil at the time. The law was promulgated by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, with Juscelino Kubitschek serving as the signatory. It is written in Brazilian Portuguese and is officially cited in legal contexts as Lei nº 3649/1959. The law is part of the broader legislative record of the Brazilian state, which transitioned from a colony to an empire in 1822 and eventually to a federal republic.

### Subject Matter and Municipal Impact
The primary digest of the law states that it "dispõe sobre entrega das quotas rodoviárias aos municípios" (disposes on the delivery of road quotas to municipalities). Its main subjects are categorized as:
- **Product Distribution:** The mechanisms for allocating resources.
- **Municipality:** The local government entities receiving the quotas.
- **Quota:** The specific road-related allocations defined by the statute.

This focus on municipal infrastructure is critical given Brazil's geography, which includes the world's largest drainage basin (the Amazon) and a population that has grown from 72.8 million in 1960 to over 213 million by 2025.

### Classification as a Statute
Law No. 3649 is an instance of a **statute**, defined as a formal written document that creates law. Within legal taxonomy, it is a subclass of "written work," "document," and "rule." As a manifestation of statutory law, it is composed of "legal norms" and was preceded by "draft laws" before being enacted through the process of "legislation." 

In a global context, statutes like Law No. 3649 are often treated as public domain documents, a policy reflected in the "edict of government doctrine" in the United States and similar policies in France. This ensures that the laws governing the public remain freely accessible. The concept of a statute is standardized in web ontologies as an equivalent to `https://schema.org/Legislation`.

### Digital Identification and Authority Control
The law is heavily indexed across various legal and knowledge databases:
- **LexML Brazil:** It carries the unique identifier `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1959-10-31;3649`.
- **Official Repository:** The full text is available at the Planalto website (`https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3649.htm`).
- **Global Identifiers:** As a statute, it is related to concepts indexed by the Library of Congress (sh85127611), the GND (4020660-9), and the Dewey Decimal system (342.057, 348.02).
- **Wikimedia:** It is a subject of interest for WikiProject Brazilian Laws.

### Relationship to the Brazilian State
The law operates within the jurisdiction of Brazil, a federal republic currently governed by the Constitution of 1988. Brazil is a major global player, being a member of the UN, G20, and BRICS. The country's legal system, which produced Law No. 3649, supports a diverse society and a massive economy (nominal GDP of $1.92 trillion in 2022). The law represents one of the many legislative acts that manage the country's 26 states and its Federal District, facilitating the "Order and Progress" (*Ordem e Progresso*) motto of the nation.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1959-10-31;3649)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=3649&ano=1959&data=31/10/1959&ato=e32cXQ65UMRRVT0f3)
3. LexML Brasil