# Law No. 373 of September 10, 1948

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649884](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649884)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-373-of-september-10-1948

## Summary
Law No. 373 of September 10, 1948 is a Brazilian statute promulgated by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, addressing employee matters and special budgetary adjustments. As a formal written legal document, it represents a specific legislative enactment from Brazil's post-World War II era, cataloged under the LexML Brazil identification system and documented as part of WikiProject Brazilian Laws.

## Key Facts
- **Full Title:** Lei nº 373, de 10 de setembro de 1948
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 373/1948
- **Publication Date:** September 10, 1948
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Legal Classification:** Instance of a "statute," which is a formal written document that creates law
- **Jurisdiction:** Applies to Brazil
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **LexML Brazil ID:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1948-09-10;373
- **Main Subjects:** Employee matters (stated as "Pessoal"), special budgetary adjustment (stated as "Credito Especial"), end/destination (stated as "Destinação"), Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs (stated as "Ministerio Da Justiça E Negocios Interiores"), goal (stated as "Objetivo"), and payment (stated as "Pagamento")
- **Statutory Classification:** Subclass of "written work," "document," and "rule"
- **Copyright Status:** Public domain in the United States under the "edict of government doctrine" and in France
- **Dewey Decimal Classification:** 342.057 and 348.02
- **Library of Congress Authority ID:** sh85127611
- **GND ID:** 4020660-9
- **Schema.org Equivalent:** Equivalent class to `https://schema.org/Legislation`
- **Wikimedia Project:** On focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 373 of September 10, 1948?**
Law No. 373 is a Brazilian statute promulgated on September 10, 1948, by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It is a formal written legal document classified as a statute, which is a specific type of legislative enactment that creates law.

**What topics does this law address?**
The law covers six main subjects identified by their Portuguese labels: employee matters ("Pessoal"), special budgetary credit ("Credito Especial"), destination or end-use ("Destinação"), the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs ("Ministerio Da Justiça E Negocios Interiores"), objectives ("Objetivo"), and payments ("Pagamento").

**Where and how was this law published?**
The statute was published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital at the time. It is documented in the LexML Brazil system with the unique identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1948-09-10;373.

**What type of legal document is a statute in the Brazilian context?**
A statute is a formal written document that creates law, encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws. It functions as the concrete manifestation of statutory law and is classified as a subclass of written work, document, and rule.

**Is this law protected by copyright?**
No, like other official Brazilian statutes, Law No. 373 is in the public domain in the United States under the "edict of government doctrine" and similarly in France, ensuring unrestricted public access to the legal text.

**How is this law identified in library and knowledge systems?**
The statute carries Library of Congress Authority ID sh85127611, GND ID 4020660-9, and is cataloged under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02. It is also equivalent to the schema.org Legislation class for structured data purposes.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 373 of September 10, 1948 matters because it represents a concrete legislative act from Brazil's early republican period, specifically addressing administrative and financial governance through its provisions on employee matters and special budgetary adjustments. As a statute, it exemplifies the formal mechanism by which the Brazilian federal government exercises legislative authority and documents its legal framework. The law's inclusion in the LexML Brazil system with a persistent URN identifier ensures its permanent retrievability and citation in legal research, supporting transparency and accountability in Brazilian jurisprudence. Its documentation under WikiProject Brazilian Laws highlights its role in the broader effort to systematically catalog and preserve Brazil's legislative history. The statute's public domain status guarantees that citizens, legal professionals, and researchers can freely access, reproduce, and analyze the text without copyright restrictions, reinforcing the principle that laws must be publicly available to those they govern. Furthermore, its classification under international library standards (Dewey Decimal, Library of Congress, GND) facilitates cross-border legal research and comparative law studies, positioning this specific Brazilian enactment within the global legal knowledge ecosystem.

## Notable For
- **Specific Legislative Identifier:** Bears the exact designation "Lei nº 373, de 10 de setembro de 1948" with corresponding citation "Lei nº 373/1948"
- **Historical Publication Location:** Published in Rio de Janeiro, which was Brazil's capital city before the inauguration of Brasília in 1960
- **Comprehensive Subject Coverage:** Addresses six distinct but related administrative topics within a single enactment
- **Persistent Digital Identifier:** Assigned the LexML Brazil URN urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1948-09-10;373 for permanent digital access
- **Wikimedia Community Focus:** Explicitly included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active curation by volunteer legal documentation efforts
- **International Authority Control:** Cataloged under multiple global library systems including Library of Congress and GND
- **Semantic Web Integration:** Equivalent to schema.org Legislation class, enabling machine-readable representation
- **Post-WWII Legislative Context:** Enacted in 1948, placing it in Brazil's post-World War II governance period under the 1946 Constitution
- **Public Domain Documentation:** Official government text exempt from copyright restrictions in major jurisdictions
- **Portuguese Language Specificity:** Written in Brazilian Portuguese, reflecting the country's official language variant

## Body

### Legal Identity and Classification
Law No. 373 of September 10, 1948 is formally titled "Lei nº 373, de 10 de setembro de 1948" and is classified as an instance of a "statute." In legal taxonomy, a statute represents a formal written document that creates law, serving as the tangible manifestation of statutory law. This classification places the law within a broader category that includes acts passed by legislatures, executive orders, and by-laws. As a statutory enactment, it functions as a subclass of "written work," "document," and "rule," distinguishing it from abstract legal concepts while affirming its role as a concrete legal instrument. The law is expressed in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, and carries the standardized legal citation "Lei nº 373/1948" for reference purposes.

### Publication and Documentation
The statute was officially published on September 10, 1948, in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's federal capital from 1763 until 1960 when the capital transferred to Brasília. The publication date is recorded as an inference based on the law's official designation. The document is preserved within Brazil's national legal information system under the LexML Brazil identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1948-09-10;373. This persistent Uniform Resource Name ensures the law remains permanently citable and retrievable in digital legal research. The law's documentation is further supported by its inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative focused on systematically organizing and improving articles related to Brazilian legislation.

### Subject Matter and Scope
The legislative text addresses six principal subjects, each identified with Portuguese terminology that reflects the administrative context of 1940s Brazil. These subjects include:
- **Employee matters** (stated as "Pessoal"), indicating provisions related to personnel or staffing
- **Special budgetary adjustment** (stated as "Credito Especial"), referring to extraordinary budgetary credits or financial allocations
- **End or destination** (stated as "Destinação"), concerning the allocation or purpose of funds or resources
- **Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs** (stated as "Ministerio Da Justiça E Negocios Interiores"), identifying the government body involved
- **Goal** (stated as "Objetivo"), establishing objectives or purposes
- **Payment** (stated as "Pagamento"), addressing disbursement or compensation matters

These subjects collectively suggest the law deals with administrative and financial governance, particularly concerning justice ministry personnel and special budgetary procedures.

### Legal System Context
As a Brazilian federal law, Law No. 373 applies to the jurisdiction of Brazil, a country that declared independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822, and currently operates as a federative republic under its 1988 Constitution. At the time of the law's enactment in 1948, Brazil was governed by the 1946 Constitution, which established a bicameral legislature and expanded social rights following the Vargas era. The law was promulgated by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the executive office responsible for signing legislation into force. The statute's creation followed the legislative process, preceded by draft laws and caused by the act of legislation itself, resulting in statutory law that forms part of Brazil's legal framework.

### Authority Control and Identification
The law is integrated into global library and knowledge organization systems through multiple authority control identifiers. It is classified under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 (for statutes and legislative process) and 348.02 (for specific jurisdictions). The Library of Congress assigns it Authority ID sh85127611, while the German National Library (GND) catalogs it under ID 4020660-9. In semantic web contexts, the statute is equivalent to the `https://schema.org/Legislation` class, enabling structured data representation. The Art & Architecture Thesaurus lists relevant entries for statutes as acts of legislature, and the entity is recognized in various knowledge graphs including Google Knowledge Graph and BabelNet.

### Public Access and Copyright
Law No. 373 benefits from public domain status in the United States under the "edict of government doctrine," which establishes that official legal documents including legislative enactments are not copyrightable. A similar public domain status applies in France. This copyright exemption ensures that the text remains freely accessible to the public, courts, and legal professionals without restriction. The principle reflects the public policy that citizens must have unrestrained access to the laws that govern them. The law's presence in the LexML system further guarantees open access through a government-maintained digital repository.

### International Cataloging and Cross-Referencing
Beyond its primary identifiers, the statute is referenced in multiple specialized thesauri and knowledge bases. The Art & Architecture Thesaurus provides two relevant entries: ID 300027891 for "statutes" as acts of legislature and ID 300027889 for "legislative acts." The PACTOLS thesaurus assigns ID pcrt2XKbjOmPcT, while the BNCF Thesaurus lists ID 7904. In Finnish systems, it appears under YSO ID 4200 (säädökset). The National Diet Library of Japan catalogs it under Authority ID 00563423, and the National Library of Spain identifies similar legislation under ID XX528757. These multiple identifiers facilitate international legal research and comparative analysis across different cataloging systems.

### Historical and Administrative Significance
Enacted in 1948, the law reflects Brazil's administrative structure during the post-World War II period when the country was strengthening its federal institutions. The reference to the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs (Ministério da Justiça e Negócios Interiores) points to the governmental organization of that era, when ministries had broader portfolios than contemporary equivalents. The law's focus on special budgetary credits and employee matters suggests it addressed immediate administrative needs of the justice ministry, possibly related to post-war governance adjustments or specific personnel expenditures. As a federal statute, it would have applied across Brazil's states and territories, which at the time included the Federal District located in Rio de Janeiro.

### Digital Preservation and Modern Access
The law's assignment of a LexML URN represents Brazil's commitment to persistent identification of legal norms in digital environments. The LexML system, developed by the Brazilian government, provides a standardized method for citing legislation using Uniform Resource Names that remain stable even as websites and platforms change. This digital preservation ensures that historical laws like Law No. 373 remain accessible for contemporary legal research, administrative procedures, and historical analysis. The law's inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws further supports its visibility and accuracy within collaborative knowledge platforms, connecting it to broader efforts to document Brazil's legislative evolution from the imperial period through the republic to the present day.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1948-09-10;373)