# Law No. 6616 of December 16, 1978

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105650467](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105650467)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-6616-of-december-16-1978

## Summary
Law No. 6616 of December 16, 1978 (Portuguese: Lei nº 6616, de 16 de dezembro de 1978) is a Brazilian federal statute enacted during the military dictatorship era. It was promulgated by President Ernesto Geisel and published in Brasília on the same date. The law addresses matters of creation, concession, alteration, and business enterprises.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 6616, de 16 de dezembro de 1978
- **Type:** Statute (federal law)
- **Country:** Brazil
- **Jurisdiction:** Federal level, applies to all of Brazil
- **Promulgation Date:** December 16, 1978
- **Approved By:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil (Ernesto Geisel, then President)
- **Publication Place:** Brasília
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Main Subjects:** Creation, Concession, Alteration, Business
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 6616/1978
- **LexML Brazil ID:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1978-12-16;6616
- **Available At:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l6616.htm
- **Classification:** Instance of "statute" (formal written document that creates law)
- **Wikimedia Project:** On focus list of WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**Who approved and promulgated this law?**
Law No. 6616 was approved by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil and promulgated by President Ernesto Geisel on December 16, 1978.

**What subjects does this law address?**
The law covers four main subject areas as stated in its text: creation, concession, alteration, and business enterprises.

**Where can the full text of this law be accessed?**
The official text is available online at the Planalto Presidential Palace website (https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l6616.htm) and is indexed under the LexML Brazil identifier system.

**What type of legal document is this?**
This is a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law. Statutes are the official record of legal rules enacted by government authority and serve as manifestations of statutory law.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 6616 of 1978 represents a piece of Brazil's legislative framework during the military dictatorship period (1964-1985). Under President Ernesto Geisel, Brazil was undergoing a slow, gradual process of political opening (abertura), and laws from this period reflect the legal structures governing business, concessions, and administrative matters at the federal level. As a federal statute, it carries the weight of national law and would have established norms affecting business operations and government concessions across all Brazilian states. The law's availability through both the official presidential archives and the LexML Brazil system demonstrates Brazil's commitment to legal transparency and accessibility of its legislative history.

## Notable For
- **Historical Context:** Enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship era under President Ernesto Geisel, who initiated the political opening process
- **Legal Infrastructure:** Part of the formal body of Brazilian federal statutes that constitute the nation's statutory law
- **Digital Accessibility:** Indexed in the LexML Brazil system (a semantic web standards-based legal information system) and available on the official Planalto website
- **Comprehensive Coverage:** As a federal law, it applies to all Brazilian states and territories, not limited to a specific region
- **WikiProject Recognition:** Identified as a focus area for WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its relevance for systematic documentation of Brazilian legal heritage

## Body

### Legislative Classification and Nature
Law No. 6616 of December 16, 1978 is classified as a **statute**, which represents a formal written document that creates law. As a statute, it falls under the broader category of legal acts and serves as a manifestation of statutory law. Statutes in the Brazilian legal system are formal expressions of legal rules enacted by the government and constitute the official record of legislative authority.

The document is specifically categorized as an instance of a "legal term or legal concept" and functions as a subclass of "written work," "document," and "rule." Unlike executive orders or by-laws, which are also types of statutes, this law was enacted through the standard federal legislative process in Brazil.

### Historical and Political Context
The law was promulgated on **December 16, 1978**, during the presidency of **Ernesto Geisel** (1907-1996), who served as Brazil's 29th president from 1974 to 1979. Geisel is notable for initiating the process of political liberalization known as *distensão* (decompression) or *abertura* (opening), which began the transition from military dictatorship to democracy. This law was enacted in the final year of his administration.

This period in Brazilian history (1964-1985) was characterized by military rule, with laws often promulgated through presidential decrees and institutional acts. However, federal laws like No. 6616 still followed the constitutional framework existing at the time, requiring presidential approval and publication in the official gazette.

### Subject Matter and Scope
According to the structured data associated with this law, it addresses four primary subjects:

1. **Creation (Criação):** Establishment of new entities, organizations, or legal structures
2. **Concession (Concessão):** Granting of rights, licenses, or permissions, typically by the government to private entities
3. **Alteration (Alteração):** Modifications to existing legal frameworks, regulations, or administrative structures
4. **Business (Empresa):** Matters related to enterprises, companies, or commercial activities

The combination of these subjects suggests the law may deal with the creation and modification of business entities or the granting of business concessions by the federal government. The exact provisions would require examination of the full legal text.

### Jurisdiction and Application
The law applies to the entire **Federative Republic of Brazil**, covering all 26 states and the Federal District. As a federal statute (lei federal), it supersedes conflicting state or municipal laws and has nationwide application. The law was published in **Brasília**, the federal capital of Brazil since 1960.

### Official Identification and Access Systems
Law No. 6616 is indexed in multiple official and semi-official systems:

- **LexML Brazil ID:** `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1978-12-16;6616`
  - LexML is a standard for legal document identification using URN (Uniform Resource Name) syntax
  - This identifier breaks down as: lex (scheme), br (Brazil), federal (jurisdiction level), lei (law type), 1978-12-16 (date), 6616 (number)

- **Planalto Archive:** Available at `https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l6616.htm`
  - The Civil House of the Presidency maintains this digital archive
  - Provides free public access to the full text of the law

- **Legal Citation:** Formally cited as "Lei nº 6616/1978" in legal documents and scholarly works

### Language and Form
The law is written in **Brazilian Portuguese**, the official language of Brazil. As a statute, it follows the formal structure typical of Brazilian legislation, including:
- A header identifying the law type, number, and date
- The promulgation formula citing presidential authority
- The legislative content organized in articles, paragraphs, and clauses
- Publication and effectiveness clauses

### Copyright Status
As an official legal document (statute) in Brazil, Law No. 6616 would generally be considered in the public domain. While the copyright status of Brazilian laws specifically isn't detailed in the source material, statutes globally are typically not subject to copyright restrictions due to their nature as government edicts that must be freely accessible to the public.

### Related Legal Framework
As a federal statute, Law No. 6616 operates within Brazil's complex legal hierarchy:
- It exists subordinate to the Constitution (at the time, the 1967 Constitution as amended by 1969 Institutional Act)
- It interacts with other federal laws, decrees, and regulations
- It provides authority for lower-level administrative acts
- It may have been subsequently modified, repealed, or supplemented by later legislation

### Documentation and Scholarly Interest
The law is included in **WikiProject Brazilian Laws**, indicating active community interest in documenting and structuring information about Brazil's legislative history. This WikiProject focuses on creating comprehensive coverage of Brazilian legal documents in knowledge bases, making laws more discoverable and interlinked with related concepts, historical events, and entities.

### Relationship to Statutory Law
Law No. 6616 contributes to the body of **statutory law** in Brazil. Statutory law represents the written laws enacted by legislative authority, as distinguished from:
- Constitutional law (derived from the constitution)
- Regulatory law (derived from administrative agencies)
- Common law (judge-made law, less prevalent in Brazil's civil law system)
- Customary law

The law serves as a "part of" the broader concepts of "law" and "legal act" in knowledge organization systems, connecting it to the global framework of legal concepts and documents.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1978-12-16;6616)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=6616&ano=1978&data=16/12/1978&ato=0b7MzZU1UerRVTf2d)