# Law No. 3972 of October 13, 1961

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105648152](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105648152)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-3972-of-october-13-1961

## Summary
Law No. 3972 of October 13, 1961 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated by President João Goulart that addresses special budgetary adjustments, authorizations, executive branch participation, and share capital regulations. This formal written document, drafted in Brazilian Portuguese and published in Brasília, represents a legislative act from the early 1960s during Brazil's federal republic period. The law is publicly accessible through the official Planalto government portal and is cataloged within Brazil's LexML legislative identification system as urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 3972, de 13 de outubro de 1961
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 3972/1961
- **Publication Date:** October 13, 1961
- **Place of Publication:** Brasília, Brazil
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **President at Promulgation:** João Goulart (served as President of Brazil in 1961)
- **Determination Method:** Promulgation
- **Country of Origin:** Brazil
- **Jurisdictional Application:** Brazil (applies to jurisdiction)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Legal Document Type:** Statute (formal written document that creates law)
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972
- **Official URL:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3972.htm
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Credito Especial"):** Special budgetary adjustment
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Autorização"):** Authorization
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Participação"):** Participation (in decisions)
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Ações"):** Activity
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Executivo"):** Executive branch
- **Main Subject (Stated as "Capital Social"):** Share capital
- **Wikidata Description:** Brazilian law
- **Wikimedia Project Focus:** WikiProject Brazilian Laws
- **Copyright Status:** Public domain in the United States and France under the edict of government doctrine
- **Dewey Decimal Classification:** 342.057 and 348.02
- **Library of Congress Authority ID:** sh85127611
- **GND ID:** 4020660-9
- **Schema.org Equivalent:** https://schema.org/Legislation
- **Function:** Manifestation of statutory law, composed of legal norms
- **Creation Process:** Follows draft laws, caused by legislation or legal act
- **Resulting Effect:** Statutory law

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 3972 of October 13, 1961?**
Law No. 3972 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated on October 13, 1961, during João Goulart's presidency. The law addresses special budgetary adjustments, authorizations, executive branch participation, and share capital regulations, serving as a formal written document that creates binding statutory law in Brazil.

**Who approved this law and what was the process?**
President João Goulart approved Law No. 3972 through promulgation on October 13, 1961, exercising executive authority within Brazil's presidential system. The approval occurred at the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, following the legislative process where draft laws are transformed into enacted statutes through formal legislation.

**What specific topics does this law regulate?**
The law regulates six distinct areas as explicitly stated in its text: special budgetary adjustments (Credito Especial), authorizations (Autorização), decision-making participation (Participação), activities (Ações), executive branch matters (Executivo), and share capital (Capital Social). These subjects indicate the statute's focus on financial and administrative governance during Brazil's early 1960s federal republic period.

**Where can I access the full text of this law?**
The complete text is available at the official URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3972.htm, hosted on the Planalto government portal. This digital access ensures public availability of the legislative document as part of Brazil's commitment to governmental transparency.

**Is this law protected by copyright?**
No, Law No. 3972 is in the public domain under the edict of government doctrine, which establishes that official legislative enactments are not copyrightable in jurisdictions like the United States and France. This policy ensures that citizens have unrestricted access to the laws governing them.

**How is this law classified in library and knowledge systems?**
The statute is classified under Dewey Decimal codes 342.057 and 348.02, holds Library of Congress Authority ID sh85127611, and is equivalent to the Schema.org Legislation class. It is also cataloged in the German GND system under ID 4020660-9, ensuring global discoverability in legal research databases.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 3972 of October 13, 1961 matters as a concrete artifact of Brazil's legislative activity during a pivotal political era under President João Goulart. As a formally promulgated statute, it exemplifies the statutory law creation process in Brazil's federal republic system, where executive promulgation transforms legislative proposals into binding legal instruments. The law's inclusion in the LexML Brazil system with a persistent URN identifier (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972) demonstrates Brazil's sophisticated approach to legislative documentation and long-term preservation of legal texts. Its public domain status ensures that researchers, legal practitioners, and citizens can freely access and cite this historical document without copyright restrictions, reinforcing democratic principles of legal transparency. The statute's focus on budgetary adjustments and executive branch operations provides insight into the administrative priorities and financial governance structures of early 1960s Brazil, making it valuable for historical, political, and legal scholarship. Furthermore, its cataloging in international library systems and participation in WikiProject Brazilian Laws facilitates cross-border legal research and comparative constitutional studies, positioning this single statute within a global network of legislative knowledge organization.

## Notable For
- **Specific Historical Context:** Promulgated during João Goulart's presidency in 1961, a period of significant political tension preceding Brazil's 1964 military coup
- **Multi-Subject Scope:** Addresses six distinct legal areas within a single statute (budgetary adjustments, authorizations, participation, activities, executive branch, share capital)
- **LexML Identification:** Assigned a permanent URN identifier (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972) in Brazil's legislative markup language system
- **Digital Preservation:** Official text maintained on the Planalto portal with a stable URL structure spanning decades of legislative archives
- **Wikimedia Integration:** Specifically flagged for WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active curation within collaborative knowledge projects
- **Public Domain Guarantee:** Explicitly exempt from copyright under the edict of government doctrine, ensuring perpetual public accessibility
- **Precise Dating:** Publication date and promulgation date both exactly documented as October 13, 1961
- **Capital City Significance:** Published in Brasília, which had become Brazil's capital only one year prior (April 22, 1960), marking early legislative activity in the new federal district
- **Brazilian Portuguese Specificity:** Drafted in Brazilian Portuguese, reflecting the country's official language variant distinct from European Portuguese
- **Comprehensive Cataloging:** Holds multiple authority control identifiers across American, German, and French library systems, plus Dewey Decimal classification

## Body

### Legislative History and Promulgation
Law No. 3972 emerged from Brazil's legislative process during the presidency of João Goulart, who promulgated the statute on October 13, 1961. The promulgation determination method indicates that the law passed through the required legislative stages, beginning as draft laws before achieving final enactment through legislation. The Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil served as the approving authority, with President Goulart exercising executive power within Brazil's presidential system of representative democracy. This occurred during Brazil's period as a federal republic, following the 1946 Constitution and preceding the 1964 military coup that would interrupt democratic governance for two decades. The law's creation follows the statutory pattern where legislation causes the transformation of draft proposals into binding legal acts, resulting in statutory law that manifests through formal written documents.

### Legal Classification and Structure
As an instance of a statute, Law No. 3972 belongs to the class of formal written documents that create law, encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws. The document is taxonomically classified as a subclass of written work, document, and rule, distinguishing it from broader concepts of legislation or generic legal acts. Structurally, the statute functions as a manifestation of statutory law and contains legal norms as constituent parts. This classification places it within the foundational legal concepts recognized globally and documented in major encyclopedias including the Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary, and Otto's encyclopedia. The statute's legal nature is further confirmed by its equivalence to the Schema.org Legislation class, enabling structured data representation across web platforms. Its function as a rule-making instrument means it serves as an official record of legal mandates enacted by governmental authority.

### Subject Matter and Scope
The statute addresses six enumerated subjects, each explicitly stated in the legislative text with corresponding Portuguese terminology. The primary subject is special budgetary adjustment (Credito Especial), indicating authorization for extraordinary financial allocations beyond regular budgetary provisions. The law also covers general authorizations (Autorização), suggesting delegated authority for specific actions or expenditures. Decision-making participation (Participação) provisions likely outline stakeholder involvement in governmental processes. Activity (Ações) references indicate regulation of operational matters. Executive branch (Executivo) provisions confirm the law's focus on administrative governance structures. Share capital (Capital Social) regulations address corporate or public entity capitalization requirements. These subjects collectively demonstrate the law's comprehensive approach to financial and administrative governance during Brazil's early 1960s development period.

### Publication Details and Accessibility
The law was published in Brasília on October 13, 1961, just over one year after the city became Brazil's capital on April 22, 1960. Publication occurred through official government channels, with the definitive text available at the persistent URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l3972.htm. This digital accessibility reflects Brazil's commitment to maintaining public access to historical legislation through the Planalto portal's organized archive system. The law's LexML Brazil identifier, urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972, provides a standardized citation format using the Legislative Markup Language developed for Brazilian legal documents. This URN structure encodes jurisdiction (br:federal), document type (lei), date (1961-10-13), and number (3972), enabling precise retrieval in legal databases.

### Jurisdictional and Linguistic Context
Law No. 3972 applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, a federal republic spanning 8,515,767 km² and bordering ten South American nations. The law is drafted in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil since independence in 1822 and the language of all official governmental acts. Brazil's status as a federal republic with a presidential system means the law operates within a governance structure where the President serves as both head of state and head of government. At the time of promulgation, Brazil was governed under its 1946 Constitution, which established the democratic framework that would be suspended three years later. The law's application extends across Brazil's 26 states and Federal District, reflecting the centralized federal legislative authority.

### Copyright Status and Public Access
As a statute, Law No. 3972 is in the public domain under the edict of government doctrine, which holds that official legal documents are not copyrightable due to public policy considerations. This doctrine applies in the United States and France, ensuring that judicial opinions, administrative rulings, and legislative enactments remain freely accessible. The public domain status means that the text can be reproduced, distributed, and analyzed without restriction, supporting legal education, scholarly research, and civic engagement. This accessibility is particularly significant for historical legislation, as it enables digital humanities projects and comparative legal studies without licensing barriers. The law's availability on the Planalto portal further reinforces this principle of unrestricted public access to legislative texts.

### Knowledge Organization and Cataloging
The statute is extensively cataloged across international library and knowledge systems. It holds Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02, placing it within legal and legislative literature categories. The Library of Congress assigned Authority ID sh85127611, while the German National Library (GND) catalogs it under ID 4020660-9 as "Gesetz" (Law) or "gesetzliche Regelung" (statutory regulation). The Bibliothèque nationale de France identifies the law with ID 120485802, and the National Library of Spain uses identifier XX528757 ("Leyes"). These authority control systems enable cross-referencing across global library catalogs. The Art & Architecture Thesaurus lists relevant entries for statutes as acts of legislature, and the entity appears in multiple thesauri including PACTOLS and BNCF. This extensive cataloging reflects the law's status as a formally recognized legal document within global knowledge organization systems.

### Wikimedia and Research Projects
Law No. 3972 is specifically identified for inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative focused on curating and improving coverage of Brazilian legislation. This project status indicates active community attention to maintaining accurate metadata and links for the law across Wikipedia and related platforms. The law's presence in Wikidata as a Brazilian law entity enables structured data integration, with properties including country (Brazil), publication date, language, and jurisdictional application. The WikiProject focus ensures that the law receives ongoing verification of its citation details, URL stability, and relationship to other Brazilian statutes. This collaborative curation complements the official government archiving by providing additional context, translations, and cross-references within the Wikimedia ecosystem, supporting both Portuguese-speaking researchers and international scholars studying Brazilian legal history.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1961-10-13;3972)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=3972&ano=1961&data=13/10/1961&ato=974kXRU5keVRVT627)