# Law No. 7162 of December 7, 1983

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649951](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649951)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-7162-of-december-7-1983

## Summary
Law No. 7162 of December 7, 1983 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated by President João Figueiredo that establishes legal norms governing public service structuring, occupational groups, functional categories, and public offices in Brazil. This legislative act, written in Brazilian Portuguese and published in Brasília, represents a formal written document that creates binding law across the entire Brazilian jurisdiction.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 7162, de 7 de dezembro de 1983
- **Alternative Citation:** Lei nº 7162/1983
- **Legal Classification:** Statute (formal written document that creates law, encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws)
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Promulgating President:** João Figueiredo (in office from 1979-1985)
- **Promulgation Date:** December 7, 1983
- **Place of Publication:** Brasília, Brazil's capital since April 22, 1960
- **Jurisdiction:** Federative Republic of Brazil (federal republic with presidential system)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese (official language of Brazil)
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-07;7162
- **Official URL:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7162.htm
- **Main Subjects:** Service (Serviço), Occupational Group (Grupo Ocupacional), Structuring (Estruturação), Change (Alteração), Legal Norms (Normas), Functional Category (Categoria Funcional), and Public Office (Cargo Público)
- **Wikimedia Project:** Included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws focus list
- **Copyright Status:** As an official legislative enactment, the law is in the public domain in Brazil and jurisdictions like the United States under the edict of government doctrine
- **Historical Context:** Enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship period (1964-1985), specifically in the final years of the regime before the 1988 Constitution established the current democratic framework

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 7162 of December 7, 1983?**
Law No. 7162 is a Brazilian federal statute that creates legally binding norms for organizing public services, defining occupational groups, establishing functional categories, and regulating public offices throughout Brazil's federal administration.

**What type of legal document is this law?**
This is a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law and serves as the concrete manifestation of statutory law, distinct from broader concepts of legislation or legal acts by being specifically the written enactment itself.

**Who signed this law into effect and when?**
President João Figueiredo promulgated the law on December 7, 1983, during his presidency from 1979 to 1985, which represented the final period of Brazil's military rule before the transition to democracy.

**Where can I find the official text of this law?**
The complete official text is publicly available at the URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7162.htm, hosted by the Brazilian government's official portal, and is cataloged in the LexML Brazil system with the identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-07;7162.

**What specific areas does this law regulate?**
The law addresses seven main areas: public service organization (Serviço), occupational group classifications (Grupo Ocupacional), administrative structuring (Estruturação), modifications to existing norms (Alteração), general legal norms (Normas), functional categories for positions (Categoria Funcional), and public office definitions (Cargo Público).

**In what language was the law originally written?**
The law was written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil and the language used for all federal legislation, as established by the country's legal and governmental framework.

**Does this law apply throughout Brazil?**
Yes, as a federal statute, Law No. 7162 applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, including all 26 states, the Federal District, and federal territories, consistent with the structure of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 7162 of December 7, 1983 matters because it represents a critical piece of Brazil's administrative legal framework enacted during the pivotal transition period from military dictatorship to democracy. As a statute promulgated in the final years of the military regime under President João Figueiredo, this law helped structure the public service system that would later be incorporated into Brazil's 1988 democratic constitution. The legislation established foundational classifications for occupational groups and functional categories that continue to influence Brazil's federal public administration structure today. Its focus on service structuring, public offices, and legal norms provided the bureaucratic architecture needed for governance during a time when Brazil was beginning to open its political system after two decades of authoritarian rule. The law's inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws demonstrates its ongoing relevance for legal research and historical documentation of Brazil's legislative evolution. As a publicly accessible document through the official Planalto portal and LexML system, it exemplifies Brazil's commitment to governmental transparency and the principle that citizens must have free access to the laws that govern them. The statute's enactment in Brasília, the purpose-built capital designed to modernize Brazil's federal administration, underscores its role in the country's administrative reform efforts. Furthermore, the law's comprehensive approach to defining public service parameters created the legal infrastructure necessary for managing one of Latin America's largest public sector workforces in a country that today has over 213 million inhabitants and operates as the region's largest economy with a GDP of approximately $1.92 trillion USD.

## Notable For
- **Military Era Legislation:** One of the final statutes enacted during Brazil's military dictatorship period (1964-1985) before the 1988 Constitution established the current democratic institutional framework
- **Public Service Reform:** Addresses comprehensive restructuring of federal public service, making it a key document for understanding Brazil's administrative evolution during democratic transition
- **Presidential Promulgation:** Signed by João Figueiredo, the last president of the military regime and the first civilian president elected after the transition period
- **LexML Cataloging:** Assigned a permanent identifier in Brazil's LexML system (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-07;7162), ensuring permanent digital preservation and citation
- **Multi-Subject Coverage:** Uniquely combines seven distinct but related administrative subjects in a single legislative act, including occupational groups and functional categories
- **Public Domain Accessibility:** Available free of copyright restrictions as an official government edict, hosted on the Planalto portal for unrestricted public access
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, making it part of a collaborative effort to document Brazil's legislative history
- **Geographic Scope:** Applies to the entire Brazilian federation, the world's fifth-largest country by area at 8,515,767 km² and sixth-largest by population at approximately 213.4 million people
- **Language Specificity:** Written in Brazilian Portuguese, reflecting Brazil's unique legal and linguistic heritage as the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas
- **Publication Location:** Published in Brasília, the modernist capital inaugurated in 1960, symbolizing the military regime's vision of administrative rationalization

## Body

### Legal Nature and Classification
Law No. 7162 of December 7, 1983 is a statute, which represents a formal written document that creates law and serves as the concrete manifestation of statutory law. As defined in legal taxonomy, a statute is an instance of a "legal term or legal concept" and a subclass of "written work," "document," and "rule." This classification distinguishes it from abstract concepts of "legislation" or "legal act" by being the tangible, written enactment itself. The law functions as a manifestation of statutory law and contains legal norms as constituent parts. Its creation followed draft laws and was caused by the legislative process, resulting in statutory law that governs Brazil's public administration. As an official legal document, the law is in the public domain in Brazil and jurisdictions like the United States under the edict of government doctrine, which establishes that legislative enactments are not copyrightable due to public policy requiring free access to governing laws.

### Promulgation and Historical Context
The statute was promulgated on December 7, 1983, by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil under President João Figueiredo. This date places the law in the final phase of Brazil's military dictatorship, which ruled from 1964 to 1985. President Figueiredo, who served from 1979 to 1985, presided over the gradual political opening (abertura) that would lead to Brazil's transition to democracy. The law was published in Brasília, the federal capital since 1960, located in the Federal District. Brasília was designed as a modernist administrative center to rationalize federal governance, making it the appropriate venue for publishing legislation that restructured public service. The timing of this law—two years before the military regime's end and five years before the 1988 Constitution—marks it as part of the legal framework that bridged authoritarian and democratic governance in Brazil.

### Content Scope and Subject Matter
The law's main subjects encompass seven interconnected areas of public administration. "Serviço" (Service) indicates regulation of federal public services. "Grupo Ocupacional" (Occupational Group) refers to classifications of positions based on similar functions. "Estruturação" (Structuring) involves the organizational architecture of public administration. "Alteração" (Change) addresses modifications to existing administrative norms. "Normas" (Legal Norms) establishes general rules governing public service. "Categoria Funcional" (Functional Category) defines classification systems for public positions. "Cargo Público" (Public Office) regulates the nature and requirements of government positions. Together, these subjects created a comprehensive framework for managing Brazil's federal workforce during a critical period of administrative modernization.

### Official Identification and Access
The law carries the official citation "Lei nº 7162/1983" and is permanently identified in Brazil's LexML system with the URN "urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-07;7162". This identifier follows the LexML Brazil standard for unique and persistent identification of Brazilian legislation. The complete official text is publicly accessible at the URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7162.htm, maintained by the Brazilian federal government. The law is written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil and the language used for all federal legislative acts. As a federal statute, it applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, encompassing all 26 states, the Federal District, and federal territories across the country's 8,515,767 km² territory.

### Documentation and Preservation
Law No. 7162 is included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative focused on documenting Brazil's legislative history. This inclusion ensures the law receives attention from collaborative knowledge projects aimed at preserving and disseminating Brazilian legal information. The statute is part of the broader corpus of Brazilian federal legislation from the 1980-1988 period, representing the legal output of the military regime's final decade. Its preservation in multiple official and collaborative platforms—government portals, LexML system, and Wikimedia projects—demonstrates the multi-institutional effort to maintain accessible records of Brazil's legal evolution.

### Jurisdictional and Geographic Application
The law applies throughout Brazil, a federal republic that declared independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822, and currently operates under the 1988 Constitution. Brazil's government structure includes executive, legislative, and judicial branches, with the National Congress comprising the Federal Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Supreme Federal Court serves as the highest judicial authority. The country's federal system divides power between the federal government and 26 states plus the Federal District. Law No. 7162, as federal legislation, binds all components of this federation and represents the exercise of federal authority over public administration matters that affect the entire nation, from the Amazon region in the north to the southern border with Uruguay and Argentina.

### Administrative and Legal Significance
As a statute enacted during Brazil's military period, Law No. 7162 reflects the regime's approach to bureaucratic rationalization and control. The law's focus on structuring public service, defining occupational groups, and establishing functional categories provided the legal infrastructure for managing the federal workforce. This was particularly significant in a country with a large public sector serving a population that grew from approximately 72.8 million in 1960 to over 213 million today. The law's provisions on public offices and legal norms would have governed career paths, hiring procedures, and organizational structures within federal agencies, establishing the rules that public servants and administrators had to follow during the transition period and potentially beyond.

### Relationship to Broader Legal Framework
The statute exists within Brazil's civil law tradition, where written legislation serves as the primary source of law. It predates the current 1988 Constitution, which established Brazil's democratic institutions after military rule. The law's subjects—service structuring, occupational groups, and public offices—are foundational elements of public administration law that would later be incorporated or modified by subsequent democratic legislation. The statute's approach to defining functional categories and legal norms reflects the military government's emphasis on hierarchical organization and formal rules, characteristics that would be reformed but not entirely abandoned in the democratic era. The law remains accessible as a historical document showing the evolution of Brazil's administrative law from authoritarian to democratic governance.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-07;7162)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=7162&ano=1983&data=07/12/1983&ato=3f0QTTE50dBpWT214)