# Law No. 6966 of December 9, 1981

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105659678](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105659678)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-6966-of-december-9-1981

## FAQs

**What does Law No. 6966/1981 authorize?**
The law specifically authorizes a special budgetary adjustment (Credito Especial) for the Ministry of Education (MEC). It serves as a formal legislative instrument to open additional credit allocations within Brazil's federal budget system.

**Who approved and promulgated this law?**
The statute was approved by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, with President João Figueiredo serving as the promulgating authority on December 9, 1981.

**Where can the official text of this law be accessed?**
The full text is available through the official Brazilian government portal at the Planalto website (https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l6966.htm) and is indexed under the LexML Brazil system with identifier `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1981-12-09;6966`.

**What type of legal instrument is this?**
Law No. 6966/1981 is classified as a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law. In the Brazilian legal system, statutes serve as the official record of legal rules enacted by the federal government.

## Why It Matters
This statute represents a specific mechanism within Brazil's budgetary and fiscal governance framework. By authorizing a special budgetary adjustment (Credito Especial) for the Ministry of Education, the law demonstrates how the Brazilian federal government uses legislative instruments to modify budget allocations outside the normal annual budget cycle. This type of legal authorization is essential for addressing urgent or unforeseen financial needs within government ministries, particularly in critical sectors like education.

The law also reflects the administrative structure of Brazil's military government period (1964-1985), during which President João Figueiredo served as the final military president before the transition to democracy. Understanding such statutes provides insight into how fiscal policy and executive authority operated during this significant period in Brazilian history.

## Notable For
- **Budgetary Mechanism:** Utilizes the "Credito Especial" (special credit) instrument, a specific type of budgetary adjustment in Brazilian public finance
- **Education Sector Focus:** Specifically targets the Ministry of Education, highlighting the government's ability to direct special funding to priority areas
- **Executive Authority:** Demonstrates the legislative power of the Presidency during Brazil's military government era
- **LexML Integration:** Officially cataloged in Brazil's legal document standardization system with a unique URN identifier
- **WikiProject Participation:** Listed on the WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its recognition in legal documentation and open knowledge initiatives

## Body

### Legal Classification and Nature
Law No. 6966 of December 9, 1981 is formally classified as a **statute**, which in legal terminology represents a formal written document that creates law. Statutes are foundational legal concepts that serve as manifestations of statutory law and function as the official record of legal rules enacted by a government authority. This law operates within the Brazilian legal system as a federal statute, placing it among the formal instruments through which government authority is exercised and recorded.

As a statute, this law shares characteristics with other similar legal instruments: it is a subclass of written work, document, and rule; it is composed of legal norms; and its creation follows draft laws and is caused by legislation or a legal act. In the United States and France, statutes generally fall into the public domain under the "edict of government doctrine," ensuring public accessibility to legal texts.

### Promulgation and Authority
The law was promulgated on **December 9, 1981** by the **Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil**. The promulgating authority was **João Figueiredo**, who served as Brazil's president from 1979 to 1985. Figueiredo was the last of the military presidents during Brazil's period of military rule (1964-1985), and his administration was marked by a gradual political opening known as *abertura*.

The promulgation took place in **Brasília**, Brazil's federal capital since 1960. The determination method for this legal act was **promulgation**, which is the formal act of proclaiming or declaring a law to be in effect.

### Subject Matter and Scope
The statute addresses several interconnected subject areas:

- **Special Budgetary Adjustment (Credito Especial):** The primary focus of the law is to authorize a special credit allocation. In Brazilian public finance, a "crédito especial" is a specific budgetary mechanism used to authorize expenditures not included in the annual budget law.

- **Authorization (Autorização):** The law serves as an authorization instrument, granting legal permission for specific financial actions.

- **Opening (Abertura):** The law deals with the "opening" of budgetary credits, referring to the initiation of the special allocation process.

- **Ministry of Education (MEC):** The specific beneficiary of this special budgetary adjustment is the Ministry of Education, referred to in the law as "Ministerio Da Educação (MEC)." The MEC is Brazil's federal ministry responsible for national education policy and administration.

- **Executive Branch (Executivo):** The law pertains to the executive branch of Brazil's federal government, reflecting the administrative and financial operations of this governmental branch.

### Jurisdiction and Legal Framework
The statute **applies to the jurisdiction of Brazil** as a whole, operating within the federal legal system. Brazil is a federal republic with a presidential system, organized as a representative democracy (though at the time of this law's enactment, the country was under military rule). The country spans approximately 8.5 million km² and is the largest nation in South America.

The law is written in **Brazilian Portuguese**, the official language of Brazil, which distinguishes it from European Portuguese through differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and certain grammatical constructions.

### Official Identification and Access
The statute is officially cataloged under the **LexML Brazil** system with the unique identifier `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1981-12-09;6966`. LexML Brazil is a project that aims to establish a standard for identifying and referencing Brazilian legal documents using Uniform Resource Names (URNs). This identification system facilitates the precise citation and retrieval of legal documents in digital environments.

The legal citation for this statute is **Lei nº 6966/1981**, following the standard Brazilian convention of identifying laws by their number and year of enactment.

The full text of the law is available through the **Planalto Presidential Palace website** at the URL `https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l6966.htm`. This website serves as the official repository for Brazilian federal legislation and is maintained by the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency.

### Historical and Political Context
The enactment of Law No. 6966 occurred during a significant period in Brazilian history. In 1981, Brazil was in the final years of its military dictatorship, which had begun with the 1964 coup d'état. President João Figueiredo had assumed office in 1979 and was overseeing a gradual process of political liberalization (*distensão* and *abertura*), which would eventually lead to the return to civilian rule in 1985.

The early 1980s were marked by economic challenges, including high inflation and foreign debt, as well as growing social movements demanding democracy. In this context, budgetary laws such as Lei 6966 represented the government's attempts to manage public finances and allocate resources to priority areas like education, even amid fiscal constraints.

### Institutional Relationships
The law demonstrates the relationship between several key Brazilian governmental institutions:

- **Presidency of the Republic:** As the promulgating authority, the Presidency exercises its legislative power to enact laws, particularly those related to budgetary and administrative matters.

- **Ministry of Education:** As the targeted beneficiary of the special budgetary adjustment, the MEC represents the federal government's education policy arm. The ministry was established in 1930 and has undergone various reorganizations throughout Brazilian history.

- **Executive Branch:** The law pertains specifically to the executive branch, reflecting the separation of powers within the Brazilian government structure, which includes executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

### Connection to Brazilian Legal System
Law No. 6966 operates within the broader context of the **Brazilian legal system**, which is based on civil law traditions inherited from Portugal. The country's supreme law is the **Constitution of Brazil**, which has undergone several versions throughout history. At the time of this law's enactment, the governing constitution was the Constitution of 1967 (as amended in 1969), which had been promulgated during the military regime.

The Brazilian legal system follows a hierarchical structure, with the constitution at the apex, followed by supplementary laws, ordinary laws (like Lei 6966), provisional measures, decrees, and other normative acts. As an ordinary federal law, Lei 6966 derives its authority from the constitution and must conform to constitutional principles.

### Digital and Knowledge Management
In contemporary knowledge management systems, this statute has been integrated into several digital platforms:

- **WikiProject Brazilian Laws:** The statute is listed on this WikiProject, which aims to organize and improve Wikipedia's coverage of Brazilian legislation. This indicates the law's recognition within open knowledge initiatives and its relevance for legal documentation.

- **Wikidata:** The statute has been indexed in Wikidata, the free and open knowledge base that serves as a central storage for structured data for Wikimedia projects. Its classification as "Brazilian law" and its various properties have been systematically recorded.

### Related Concepts and Terminology
Understanding Law No. 6966 requires familiarity with several Brazilian legal and administrative concepts:

- **Credito Especial (Special Credit):** A type of budgetary credit in Brazilian public finance law, used for authorizing expenditures not foreseen in the annual budget or for meeting unforeseen expenses.

- **Lei (Law):** The standard Portuguese term for a statute or law enacted by the legislative branch or, in certain cases, by the executive branch with legislative authorization.

- **Promulgação (Promulgation):** The formal act by which the executive branch declares a law to be in force, typically involving publication in the official gazette.

- **Autorização (Authorization):** In Brazilian administrative law, this refers to the legal permission granted for specific actions, particularly those involving public expenditures.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1981-12-09;6966)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=6966&ano=1981&data=09/12/1981&ato=6e9MTUE50MrRVT839)