# Law No. 6160 of December 6, 1974

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105659909](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105659909)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-6160-of-december-6-1974

## Summary
Law No. 6160 of December 6, 1974 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated by President Ernesto Geisel that addresses liquidation, eminent domain (desapropriação), and alterations to existing legislation. Published in Brasília and available in Brazilian Portuguese, this law is formally classified as a statute—a written legal instrument that creates binding law—and is cataloged under the unique LexML identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160.

## Key Facts
- **Full Title**: Lei nº 6160, de 6 de dezembro de 1974
- **Legal Citation**: Lei nº 6160/1974
- **Publication Date**: December 6, 1974
- **Place of Publication**: Brasília, Brazil
- **Promulgating Authority**: Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **President at Promulgation**: Ernesto Geisel
- **Determination Method**: Promulgation
- **Language**: Brazilian Portuguese
- **Jurisdiction**: Applies to Brazil
- **Legal Classification**: Instance of a statute (formal written document that creates law)
- **Main Subjects**: Liquidation (Liquidação), eminent domain (Desapropriação), and change/alteration (Alteração)
- **LexML Brazil ID**: urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160
- **Official URL**: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6160.htm
- **Wikimedia Project**: Subject of WikiProject Brazilian Laws
- **Statute Definition**: Formal written document encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws
- **Statute Classification**: Legal term or legal concept; subclass of written work, document, and rule
- **Statute Function**: Manifestation of statutory law containing legal norms
- **Statute Creation**: Follows draft laws; caused by legislation or legal act
- **Statute Effect**: Results in statutory law
- **Copyright Status**: Public domain in United States and France under edict of government doctrine
- **Schema.org Equivalent**: https://schema.org/Legislation
- **Dewey Decimal Classification**: 342.057 and 348.02
- **GND ID**: 4020660-9
- **Library of Congress Authority ID**: sh85127611
- **Statute Sitelink Count**: 117 Wikipedia language editions
- **Brazil Sitelink Count**: 381 Wikipedia language editions
- **Country Inception**: September 7, 1822 (sovereign state); 1549 (colony)
- **Historical Context**: Brazil was under military rule during 1974; Ernesto Geisel served as President from 1974-1979

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 6160 of December 6, 1974?**
Law No. 6160 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated on December 6, 1974, by President Ernesto Geisel. It is a formal written law that addresses three main legal areas: liquidation procedures, eminent domain (desapropriação), and alterations to previous legislation.

**What specific legal topics does this statute cover?**
The law covers liquidation (Liquidação), which involves settling debts and winding up affairs; eminent domain (Desapropriação), concerning government acquisition of private property for public use; and change (Alteração), meaning modifications to existing legal provisions.

**Where can I access the full text of Law 6160/1974?**
The complete text is publicly available at the official URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6160.htm, hosted by the Brazilian government's civil legislation portal. The document is in Brazilian Portuguese.

**What type of legal instrument is Law No. 6160?**
It is classified as a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law. Statutes are legal concepts that serve as manifestations of statutory law and are subclasses of written works, documents, and rules.

**Who authorized and signed this law into effect?**
The law was approved by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil and promulgated by President Ernesto Geisel on December 6, 1974, through the determination method of promulgation.

**How is this law cataloged in library and documentation systems?**
Law No. 6160 carries the LexML Brazil identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160, is classified under Dewey Decimal numbers 342.057 and 348.02, and is indexed with GND ID 4020660-9 and Library of Congress Authority ID sh85127611.

**Is Law No. 6160 subject to copyright restrictions?**
No, as a statute, it is in the public domain in the United States and France under the edict of government doctrine, which holds that official legal documents are not copyrightable.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 6160 of December 6, 1974 matters because it represents a concrete legislative act from Brazil's military dictatorship era that continues to be accessible through modern digital legal frameworks. As a statute addressing liquidation, eminent domain, and legislative alterations, it touches upon fundamental legal mechanisms that govern property rights, debt settlement, and statutory evolution—core components of any legal system. Its promulgation by Ernesto Geisel, who began his presidential term in 1974, situates the law within a period of authoritarian rule in Brazil, making it a primary source document for understanding how legal frameworks were constructed during that regime. The law's inclusion in the LexML system and its availability on the official Planalto website demonstrate Brazil's commitment to open government and public access to legal texts. Furthermore, its cataloging in international authority control systems (GND, Library of Congress) and classification under Dewey Decimal numbers ensures that researchers, legal practitioners, and scholars worldwide can locate and reference this specific piece of Brazilian legislation. The statute's public domain status reinforces the principle that citizens must have unrestricted access to the laws that govern them, which is essential for the rule of law. As part of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, it receives dedicated attention from the Wikimedia community, ensuring its documentation remains accurate and accessible. The law's existence as a manifestation of statutory law—complete with legal norms and created through formal legislative processes—illustrates the systematic nature of Brazil's legal system, where even decades-old legislation remains formally documented and retrievable.

## Notable For
- **Triple-Subject Legislation**: Uniquely addresses three distinct legal domains—liquidation, eminent domain, and statutory alteration—within a single statute.
- **Military Era Document**: Promulgated on the first day of Ernesto Geisel's presidency (December 6, 1974), marking it as an early act of Brazil's military regime during the 1970s.
- **Precision Cataloging**: Assigned the exact LexML Brazil identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160, following Brazil's URN:LEX standard for legislative identification.
- **Open Access Priority**: Featured in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active curation by the Wikimedia community for Brazilian legal documentation.
- **Multiple Authority Control**: Registered with both German GND (4020660-9) and U.S. Library of Congress (sh85127611) authority identifiers, ensuring global discoverability.
- **Dewey Decimal Dual Classification**: Classified under two Dewey Decimal numbers (342.057 and 348.02), reflecting its relevance to both general law and specific legal procedures.
- **Capital City Origin**: Published in Brasília, the federal capital since 1960, emphasizing its status as national legislation.
- **Permanent Digital Preservation**: Available at a stable, decades-long URL on the official Planalto portal, ensuring continued public access.
- **Public Domain Guarantee**: Exempt from copyright restrictions in multiple jurisdictions, embodying the principle that law must remain freely accessible.
- **Schema.org Alignment**: Equivalent to the Legislation class in schema.org, making it compatible with modern web semantic standards.
- **Extensive Multilingual Coverage**: The statute concept itself appears in 117 Wikipedia language editions, while Brazil as a country appears in 381, indicating broad documentation context.
- **Federal Level Enactment**: Identified as a federal lei (law) in the LexML system, distinguishing it from state or municipal legislation.
- **Portuguese Language Specificity**: Written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil since independence in 1822.
- **Historical Transition Marker**: Created during Brazil's evolution from colony (1549) to empire to republic, representing the continuity of legal documentation across political regimes.

## Body

### Legal Identity and Classification
Law No. 6160 of December 6, 1974 is formally titled "Lei nº 6160, de 6 de dezembro de 1974" and is also known by this exact alias in documentation systems. The legal citation "Lei nº 6160/1974" serves as its standard reference format in Brazilian legal practice. This instrument is classified as an instance of a statute, which is defined as a formal written document that creates law and encompasses acts, executive orders, and by-laws. As a statute, it functions as a manifestation of statutory law and contains legal norms as constituent parts. The document is written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil, and applies exclusively to the jurisdiction of Brazil. It was created through the legislative process, following draft laws and resulting in statutory law as its effect. The determination method for its enactment was promulgation, a formal procedure by which the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil gives legal force to legislative acts.

### Publication and Digital Accessibility
The law was officially published on December 6, 1974, in Brasília, which has served as Brazil's federal capital since April 22, 1960. Its place of publication in the capital underscores its status as federal legislation binding across the entire nation. The full text remains publicly accessible at the stable URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1970-1979/l6160.htm, hosted by the official portal of the Presidency. This permanent accessibility aligns with Brazil's open government principles. The statute is also the focus of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative dedicated to documenting Brazilian legislation, ensuring its accurate representation across Wikimedia platforms. The law's description as a "Brazilian law" in Wikidata provides a concise English-language identifier for international reference.

### Substantive Legal Scope
Law No. 6160 addresses three principal legal subjects as explicitly stated in its documentation. First, it covers liquidation (Liquidação), which in legal terms refers to the process of settling accounts, paying debts, and winding up the affairs of an entity. Second, it deals with eminent domain (Desapropriação), the government's power to acquire private property for public use, typically with compensation. Third, it concerns change (Alteração), indicating that the statute modifies or amends previous legal provisions. While the specific articles and detailed provisions are not described in the source material, these three topics represent fundamental areas of administrative and civil law that govern how legal relationships are terminated, how property rights are transferred for public purposes, and how legal frameworks evolve through legislative updates.

### Historical and Political Context
The law's promulgation date of December 6, 1974, coincides precisely with the beginning of Ernesto Geisel's presidency, which lasted from 1974 to 1979. Geisel assumed office during Brazil's military dictatorship period, making this statute a product of authoritarian governance rather than democratic legislative processes. Brazil's political history contextualizes this law: the country transitioned from Portuguese colony (established in 1549) to sovereign state on September 7, 1822, then through empire, republic, and military rule before returning to democracy. The 1974 law predates Brazil's current Constitution of 1988, which established the modern democratic framework. Understanding this temporal placement is crucial for legal historians examining how Brazil's statutory law developed during authoritarian periods.

### Legal Framework and Jurisdictional Application
As a federal law (lei federal), Law No. 6160 applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, a country that spans 8,515,767 km² and shares borders with ten nations. The statute's authority derives from the federal legislative power and is binding across all 26 states and the Federal District. Its application is limited to Brazilian territory, consistent with the principle of national sovereignty that Brazil has exercised since independence from the Portuguese Empire in 1822. The law's creation through legislation places it within the hierarchy of Brazilian legal norms, where federal statutes supersede state and municipal laws but must conform to constitutional provisions. The statute's existence as a manifestation of statutory law means it represents the concrete, written expression of legal rules that courts, administrators, and citizens must follow.

### Documentation and Authority Control
Law No. 6160 benefits from extensive cataloging in national and international documentation systems. The LexML Brazil system assigns it the precise Uniform Resource Name urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160, following the URN:LEX standard for legislative identifiers. This systematic naming convention enables precise retrieval and citation. Internationally, the statute concept is registered with the German Integrated Authority File (GND) under ID 4020660-9, where it is categorized as "Gesetz" (law) or "gesetzliche Regelung" (statutory regulation). The U.S. Library of Congress assigns it Authority ID sh85127611, facilitating its discovery in American library systems. These authority controls ensure the law is discoverable across different cataloging systems, supporting comparative legal research and international legal studies.

### Library Classification and Semantic Web Integration
The statute is classified under two Dewey Decimal numbers: 342.057 (for constitutional and administrative law) and 348.02 (for statutes, regulations, and cases), reflecting its dual relevance to legal structure and statutory instruments. In the semantic web ecosystem, the statute class is equivalent to schema.org/Legislation, enabling structured data markup for web applications. This equivalence allows legal databases and search engines to interpret the law's metadata consistently. The statute concept appears in 117 Wikipedia language editions, while Brazil as a nation appears in 381 editions, demonstrating the extensive multilingual documentation context surrounding this legislation. The law's inclusion in these systems ensures that both the specific statute and the broader legal system are accessible to global audiences.

### Copyright Status and Public Access
As an official legal document, Law No. 6160 is in the public domain in the United States and France under the edict of government doctrine. This legal principle establishes that official texts of legislative, administrative, and judicial nature are not copyrightable due to public policy requiring free access to the law. Consequently, the text can be reproduced, distributed, and used without restriction, ensuring that all Brazilian citizens and interested parties worldwide can access the laws governing them. This status reinforces the rule of law by eliminating barriers to legal knowledge and supporting legal education, scholarly research, and public accountability.

### Relationship to Broader Legal Concepts
The statute is part of a larger taxonomy of legal instruments. It follows draft laws in the legislative process and is caused by the act of legislation itself. As a subclass of written work, document, and rule, it shares characteristics with other formal texts but is distinguished by its legal binding force. The statute is composed of legal norms and is itself part of the broader concepts of law and legal act. Its creation results in statutory law, which forms one of the primary sources of law in Brazil's legal system. The statute concept is differentiated from related but distinct terms such as "Wet" and general "Law" in knowledge organization systems, maintaining precise terminological boundaries in legal classification.

### National Context and Administrative Significance
The law's publication in Brasília, a city specifically designed and built to serve as Brazil's capital since 1960, symbolizes the centralization of federal legislative authority. During the 1970s, Brazil operated under a military government that maintained formal administrative structures while restricting democratic freedoms. Law No. 6160's existence within this context demonstrates that even authoritarian regimes relied on formal statutory instruments to regulate state functions like property acquisition and legal modifications. The law's continued availability through official channels indicates that subsequent democratic governments have preserved and maintained access to historical legislation, recognizing that legal continuity is essential for administrative stability and legal certainty. The statute's language—Brazilian Portuguese—reflects the linguistic unity of a country that, despite its vast size and regional diversity, maintains a single official language inherited from its colonial past under the Portuguese Empire until 1815.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1974-12-06;6160)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=6160&ano=1974&data=06/12/1974&ato=e2dk3Zq5kenRVTdfc)