# Law No. 6137 of November 7, 1974

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649896](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649896)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-6137-of-november-7-1974

## Summary
Law No. 6137 of November 7, 1974 is a Brazilian federal statute that amends two previous 1964 laws by adding paragraphs to Article 43 of Law 4,502 and Article 1 of Law 4,557. Enacted during the military dictatorship under President Ernesto Geisel, this law addresses matters related to product, exemption, and competency within Brazil's federal legal framework.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 6137, de 7 de novembro de 1974
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 6137/1974
- **Publication Date:** November 7, 1974
- **Place of Publication:** Brasília, Brazil
- **Type of Document:** statute (formal written document that creates law, subclass of written work, document, and rule)
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **President at Time of Approval:** Ernesto Geisel (via promulgation on 1974-11-07)
- **Jurisdiction:** Applies to the entire Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-11-07;6137
- **Primary Function:** Adds paragraph to Article 43 of Law 4,502 (November 30, 1964) and to Article 1 of Law 4,557 (December 10, 1964)
- **Main Subjects Addressed:** product (Produto), exemption (Dispensa), and competency (Competencia)
- **Full Text Available At:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6137.htm
- **Wikimedia Project Inclusion:** Part of WikiProject Brazilian Laws
- **Historical Context:** Enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship period (1964-1985)
- **Form of Government at Time of Enactment:** Federal republic, presidential system, representative democracy (though under military rule)
- **Country of Origin:** Brazil (largest country in South America, area 8,515,767 km², population approximately 213.4 million in 2025)

## FAQs
**What specific changes did Law No. 6137 make to existing legislation?**
Law No. 6137 adds a paragraph to Article 43 of Law 4,502 from November 30, 1964, and adds a paragraph to Article 1 of Law 4,557 from December 10, 1964. The law digest explicitly states "ACRESCENTA PARAGRAFO AO ARTIGO 43 DA LEI 4.502, DE 30 DE NOVEMBRO DE 1964, E AO ARTIGO 1 DA LEI 4.557, DE 10 DE DEZEMBRO DE 1964."

**Who signed Law No. 6137 and what was the political context?**
President Ernesto Geisel signed the law through promulgation on November 7, 1974. This occurred during Brazil's military dictatorship, which began with the 1964 coup and lasted until 1985. Geisel served as president from 1974 to 1979 as part of the military regime's controlled political transition process.

**What type of legal instrument is Law No. 6137?**
It is a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law and serves as the concrete manifestation of statutory law. As a statute, it is classified as a subclass of written work, document, and rule, and it functions as a manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's federal legal system.

**Where can the official text of Law No. 6137 be accessed?**
The full text is publicly available at the official URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6137.htm. It is also indexed in the LexML Brazil system with the identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-11-07;6137. As a statute, it is in the public domain in Brazil and the United States under the edict of government doctrine.

**What are the main subject areas covered by this law?**
The law addresses three main subjects as stated in its metadata: product (Produto), exemption (Dispensa), and competency (Competencia). These terms suggest the law deals with administrative matters, likely concerning government procurement, regulatory exemptions, and jurisdictional or administrative competencies within the federal government structure.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 6137 of November 7, 1974 represents a specific legislative act from a critical period in Brazil's political history—the military dictatorship era. Its enactment under President Ernesto Geisel's administration illustrates how the military regime systematically modified and built upon earlier legislation from the immediate post-coup period (the two laws it amends both date from 1964, the year of the coup). The law's focus on product, exemption, and competency reveals the regime's efforts to refine administrative and regulatory frameworks, likely to consolidate control over government procurement processes, establish clearer rules for regulatory exemptions, and define administrative competencies within the federal bureaucracy. As a documented statute in the LexML Brazil system and a tracked entity in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, it serves as a primary source for understanding the legal and administrative evolution of Brazil's federal government during authoritarian rule. The law's accessibility through official digital archives demonstrates Brazil's commitment to transparent public access to historical legislation, ensuring that scholars, legal practitioners, and citizens can examine the precise mechanisms through which the military government exercised legislative authority. Its existence as a formal statute—classified as a subclass of written work and document—provides concrete evidence of how statutory law manifests in practice, following draft laws and resulting in binding legal norms that applied to all jurisdictions within Brazil's federal system.

## Notable For
- **Specific Amendment Structure:** Uniquely adds paragraphs to two separate laws from the same foundational year (1964) in a single legislative act
- **Military Era Legislation:** Enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship under President Ernesto Geisel, representing the regime's legislative methodology
- **Administrative Focus:** Addresses the technical subjects of product, exemption, and competency rather than broad political or social issues
- **Digital Preservation:** Indexed in the LexML Brazil system with a persistent URN identifier (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-11-07;6137)
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Specifically tracked by WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its importance to legal history documentation
- **Public Domain Status:** As a Brazilian federal statute, it is in the public domain in both Brazil and the United States, ensuring unrestricted public access
- **Geographic Specificity:** Published in Brasília, the planned capital that became Brazil's seat of government in 1960, fourteen years before this law's enactment
- **Language Precision:** Written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil and a key element of its Lusophone identity
- **Citation Clarity:** Uses the standard Brazilian legal citation format "Lei nº 6137/1974" for easy reference
- **Jurisdictional Breadth:** Applies to the entire Federative Republic of Brazil, a country spanning 8.5 million km² and bordering ten nations

## Body

### Legal Classification and Nature
Law No. 6137 of November 7, 1974 is formally classified as a **statute**, which represents a foundational legal concept globally recognized as a formal written document that creates law. As a statute, it functions as the concrete manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's federal legal system. The document is a subclass of written work, document, and rule, distinguishing it from broader concepts like "legislation" or "legal act" in knowledge classification systems. Its creation followed draft laws and was caused by the act of legislation through presidential promulgation. The statute is composed of legal norms and serves as part of the broader concepts of law and legal act. It results in statutory law that applies uniformly across Brazil's jurisdiction. The law is written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, which is spoken by over 213 million people and serves as the primary language of government, commerce, and daily life.

### Historical and Political Context
The law was enacted on November 7, 1974, during the presidency of Ernesto Geisel, who led Brazil from 1974 to 1979 as part of the military dictatorship that began with the 1964 coup. This period was characterized by the military regime's "slow, gradual, and safe" political opening process. Geisel's presidency represented the fifth consecutive military president since the 1964 coup that established authoritarian rule until 1985. The law was promulgated in Brasília, the federal capital since April 22, 1960, a planned city designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa that replaced Rio de Janeiro as the seat of government. At the time of enactment, Brazil operated under the Constitution of 1967 (with amendments from the repressive Institutional Act No. 5 of 1968), which concentrated power in the executive branch and limited democratic freedoms. The law's enactment through presidential promulgation reflects the centralized legislative process typical of the military era, where the executive branch dominated lawmaking.

### Content and Amendments
The substantive content of Law No. 6137 focuses on amending two specific laws from 1964, the foundational year of the military regime. The law digest explicitly states its purpose: "ACRESCENTA PARAGRAFO AO ARTIGO 43 DA LEI 4.502, DE 30 DE NOVEMBRO DE 1964, E AO ARTIGO 1 DA LEI 4.557, DE 10 DE DEZEMBRO DE 1964." This means it adds a paragraph to Article 43 of Law 4,502 and adds a paragraph to Article 1 of Law 4,557. The main subjects identified in the metadata are product (Produto), exemption (Dispensa), and competency (Competencia). These terms indicate the law likely addresses administrative and regulatory matters, possibly concerning government procurement of products, exemptions from certain requirements, and the competency of federal agencies to act. The precise nature of these amendments would require examination of the full text available at the official Planalto website.

### Publication and Accessibility
Law No. 6137 was published on November 7, 1974, in Brasília, the federal capital. The full text is publicly accessible through multiple official channels. The primary source is the URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6137.htm, maintained by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Additionally, the law is indexed in the LexML Brazil system with the persistent identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-11-07;6137. LexML is Brazil's official system for identifying and accessing legal documents using Uniform Resource Names (URNs). As a federal statute, the document is in the public domain in Brazil and the United States under the edict of government doctrine, which establishes that official legal documents are not copyrightable. This ensures unrestricted public access for citizens, legal professionals, researchers, and government officials.

### Jurisdictional Application and Legal Framework
The law applies to the entire jurisdiction of the Federative Republic of Brazil, a federal republic that in 1974 comprised states, territories, and a Federal District. Brazil's federal system divides power between the federal government and 26 states plus one Federal District. The law's application extends across all these jurisdictions, covering a territory of 8,515,767 km² that spans multiple time zones from UTC-02:00 to UTC-05:00. As a federal statute, it forms part of Brazil's statutory law, which is the official record of legal rules enacted by the government. The law is subject to interpretation by Brazil's judicial system, with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) serving as the highest judicial authority. The legal citation format "Lei nº 6137/1974" follows Brazilian conventions for referencing legislation by type, number, and year.

### Documentation and Authority Control
Law No. 6137 is documented in multiple knowledge systems and authority files. It is included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia project focused on documenting Brazilian legislation. The law's metadata includes references dated January 28, 2021, and February 17, 2021, indicating recent verification of its details. The structured data references the LexML Brazil system and the official Planalto website as authoritative sources. The law's description as a "Brazilian law" in Wikidata connects it to broader classification systems. As a statute, it would be cataloged under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02, and would have equivalent classes in schema.org as Legislation. The law's documentation in these systems ensures its discoverability and citation in academic, legal, and computational contexts.

### Relationship to Broader Legal Concepts
As an instance of "statute," Law No. 6137 shares characteristics with other formal written documents that create law, including acts passed by legislatures, executive orders, and by-laws. It is distinguished from but related to concepts such as "draft laws" (which precede it) and "legislation" (which causes it). The law is part of Brazil's statutory law, which is the manifestation of legal rules enacted by governmental authority. The statute's composition includes legal norms as its constituent parts. Its public domain status aligns with global standards for official legal documents, ensuring that the laws governing the public are freely owned by the public. The law's existence as a formal written document makes it a tangible reference point for courts, citizens, and administrators, reinforcing the rule of law in Brazil's federal system.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-11-07;6137)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=6137&ano=1974&data=07/11/1974&ato=82cUTVq5kenRVT5fd)
3. LexML Brasil