# Law No. 7165 of December 14, 1983

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105650118](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105650118)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-7165-of-december-14-1983

## Summary
Law No. 7165 of December 14, 1983 is a Brazilian federal statute that regulates the establishment and modification of enrollment vacancies in undergraduate higher education programs. Promulgated by President João Figueiredo during the final years of Brazil's military dictatorship, this law provides the legal framework governing how educational institutions must set and alter the number of available student positions in degree-granting courses.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 7165, de 14 de dezembro de 1983
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 7165/1983
- **Publication Date:** December 14, 1983
- **Promulgating Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil under President João Figueiredo
- **Primary Subject Matter:** Regulation of vacancy fixation and alteration in undergraduate higher education courses
- **Legal Type:** Federal statute (instance of the legal concept "statute")
- **Jurisdictional Scope:** Applies to the entire Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Place of Publication:** Brasília, the federal capital
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-14;7165
- **Official URL:** Full text available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7165.htm
- **Digest Summary:** "DISPÕE SOBRE A FIXAÇÃO E ALTERAÇÃO DO NUMERO DE VAGAS NOS CURSOS SUPERIORES DE GRADUAÇÃO, E DA OUTRAS PROVIDENCIAS." (Provides for the fixation and alteration of the number of vacancies in undergraduate higher education courses, and other provisions.)
- **Wikimedia Project Focus:** Included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws for documentation and curation

## FAQs
**What specific aspect of higher education does Law No. 7165 regulate?**
The law governs the legal procedures for establishing and modifying enrollment capacity in undergraduate degree programs across Brazilian higher education institutions, creating binding rules for how universities must determine and adjust their student vacancy numbers.

**Who signed this law into effect and when?**
President João Figueiredo promulgated the law on December 14, 1983, exercising executive authority during Brazil's military regime period, with the official act recorded through the presidential legislative system.

**Where can the complete original text be accessed?**
The authenticated full text remains publicly available through the official Planalto Palace website at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7165.htm, maintained by the federal government's civil documentation system.

**What type of legal instrument is this under Brazilian law?**
This is a federal-level statute, formally classified as a written legal document that creates binding law, distinct from executive orders or by-laws, and serves as a manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's legal hierarchy.

**Does this law apply nationwide or only to specific regions?**
The statute applies to the entire jurisdictional territory of Brazil, affecting all federal higher education institutions and establishing national standards that supersede any conflicting local regulations.

**In what language was the law originally drafted and published?**
The law was composed and promulgated exclusively in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of all federal legislation and governmental acts in Brazil.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 7165 of December 14, 1983 establishes critical legal infrastructure for Brazil's higher education system by codifying the rules for enrollment capacity management. During the 1980s, Brazil's university system faced rapid expansion pressures while operating under authoritarian governance structures that tightly controlled institutional autonomy. This statute created a standardized, legally binding process that prevented arbitrary decision-making regarding student admissions capacity, forcing educational institutions to follow formal procedures rather than ad hoc determinations. The law matters because it directly impacts educational access—determining how many students can enter degree programs each year—and institutional planning, requiring universities to navigate legal norms and obligations when adjusting their academic offerings. As a piece of Brazil's educational regulatory framework from the military period, it reflects the regime's approach to controlling higher education expansion while maintaining centralized oversight. Its continued availability through modern digital archives like LexML and the Planalto portal demonstrates its ongoing relevance as active legislation, not merely a historical document. For students, educators, and administrators, the law defines the boundaries of legitimate action regarding one of the most fundamental aspects of university operations: how many individuals can pursue undergraduate studies in any given program.

## Notable For
- **Specific Regulatory Focus:** Unlike general education laws, this statute narrowly targets vacancy numbers in undergraduate programs, making it highly specialized legislation
- **Military Era Origins:** Enacted in 1983 during the final phase of Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985), representing late-regime legal structuring of higher education
- **LexML System Integration:** Assigned a permanent URN identifier (urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-14;7165) within Brazil's official legal markup language system for digital retrieval
- **Presidential Promulgation:** Specifically promulgated by President João Figueiredo, the last military president, marking his direct involvement in educational policy
- **Multi-Subject Classification:** Categorized under seven distinct main subjects in knowledge systems: educational institution, decision, higher education, change, presentation, legal norm, and obligation
- **Active Digital Preservation:** Maintained in the 1980-1988 legislative archive on the Planalto website, ensuring continuous public access decades after enactment
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Explicitly included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active curation by legal information volunteers

## Body

### Legal Identity and Classification
Law No. 7165 of December 14, 1983 functions as a federal statute within Brazil's legal system, formally classified as an instance of the broader legal concept "statute." As a statute, it represents a formal written document that creates binding law, distinct from executive orders or by-laws, and serves as a concrete manifestation of statutory law. The law carries the official citation "Lei nº 7165/1983" and operates as a subclass of written work, document, and rule in legal taxonomies. Its creation resulted from legislative action that followed draft law procedures, ultimately caused by a formal legal act of promulgation. The statute contains legal norms as constituent parts and produces statutory law as its effect. Under copyright principles applicable to government edicts, this law falls within the public domain in jurisdictions like the United States and France, ensuring unrestricted public access to the text.

### Content and Regulatory Scope
The statute's core purpose centers on regulating the "fixação e alteração do número de vagas nos cursos superiores de graduação"—the establishment and modification of enrollment vacancies in undergraduate higher education courses. The official digest explicitly states this focus while noting the inclusion of "outras providências" (other provisions). Seven distinct main subjects define the law's scope in knowledge systems: educational institution (stated as "Instituição Educacional"), decision (stated as "Fixação"), higher education (stated as "Curso Superior"), change (stated as "Alteração"), presentation (stated as "Apresentação"), legal norm (stated as "Normas"), and obligation (stated as "Obrigatoriedade"). This multi-faceted classification reveals the law's complexity, addressing not merely the numerical determination of student positions but also the institutional obligations, normative frameworks, and procedural requirements for presenting and implementing such changes.

### Promulgation and Executive Authority
President João Figueiredo exercised promulgation authority on December 14, 1983, signing the law through the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. This act occurred during his presidential term (1979-1985), which encompassed the final years of Brazil's military regime. The determination method recorded is "promulgation," indicating the direct executive action that transformed legislative approval into enforceable law. The specific date—December 14, 1983—marks the law's legal effectiveness, though implementation timelines for various provisions may have differed. The promulgation references point to the presidential legislative database, with authentication records showing the law's registration under number 7165 in the 1983 legislative series.

### Publication and Archival Access
The law's official publication occurred in Brasília, the federal capital designated since 1960. Modern access to the statute is facilitated through multiple digital preservation systems. The primary source URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7165.htm hosts the authenticated text within the Planalto Palace's civil legislation archive covering 1980-1988. Additionally, Brazil's LexML system assigns a permanent Uniform Resource Name: urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-14;7165, enabling precise digital citation and retrieval. The LexML identifier structure breaks down as: jurisdiction (br:federal), document type (lei), date (1983-12-14), and number (7165). These archival efforts ensure the law remains accessible for legal research, educational purposes, and administrative reference decades after its enactment.

### Jurisdictional and Linguistic Parameters
The statute applies to the entire jurisdictional territory of Brazil, a federal republic occupying 8.5 million km² in South America. As federal legislation, it binds all entities within the national territory, including the 26 states and Federal District. The law was drafted, debated, and promulgated exclusively in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language mandated for all federal government acts. This linguistic uniformity ensures consistent interpretation across Brazil's diverse regions, from São Paulo's urban centers to Amazonian states. The law's authority derives from Brazil's constitutional framework, which vests the federal government with power to regulate national education policy, particularly regarding higher education institutions that receive federal funding or recognition.

### Historical and Political Context
Enactment occurred in 1983, a pivotal moment when Brazil's military dictatorship (established 1964) was negotiating its eventual transition to civilian rule, completed in 1985. During this period, the government maintained tight control over higher education expansion, viewing universities as critical sites for political socialization. The law reflects the regime's technocratic approach to governance—standardizing procedures while retaining central authority over institutional autonomy. President Figueiredo's promulgation of educational legislation in late 1983 demonstrates the administration's continued focus on institutional regulation even as political liberalization began. The statute thus serves as both functional law and historical artifact, capturing the legal techniques through which authoritarian Brazil managed educational access.

### Integration with Knowledge Management Systems
The law receives structured documentation across multiple knowledge organization systems. WikiProject Brazilian Laws includes the statute in its focused curation efforts, indicating active maintenance by Wikimedia contributors specializing in Brazilian legal documentation. The law's description as "Brazilian law" in Wikidata provides a concise identifier for linked data applications. Seven main subject entries with "stated as" qualifiers enable precise semantic matching between legal concepts and their Portuguese formulations. This metadata richness supports computational legal analysis, cross-referencing with other statutes, and integration into broader legal information systems. The inclusion of reference metadata (P813 for retrieval dates, P854 for source URLs) ensures provenance tracking for each asserted fact.

### Normative Structure and Legal Effect
As a statute containing legal norms, the law creates obligations for educational institutions regarding vacancy management. The "Normas" classification indicates prescriptive content, while "Obrigatoriedade" confirms its binding nature. The law's effect is the production of statutory law governing higher education enrollment capacity. Unlike abstract legal principles, this statute provides concrete rules that institutions must follow when establishing new programs or modifying existing ones. The "Apresentação" subject suggests requirements for how institutions must formally present vacancy proposals, while "Alteração" establishes procedures for subsequent modifications. This normative architecture ensures that enrollment decisions follow transparent, legally defined processes rather than discretionary administrative choices.

### Relationship to Broader Legal Concepts
The statute exemplifies the "statute" class defined as a formal written document creating law, encompassing acts, executive orders, and by-laws. It functions as a manifestation of statutory law within Brazil's civil law tradition. The law is composed of legal norms and results from legislation, following earlier draft law stages. Its public domain status aligns with the edict of government doctrine, which holds that official legal texts must remain freely accessible. The statute's classification under Dewey Decimal 342.057 and 348.02 would place it within law collections, while its equivalence to schema.org/Legislation class enables semantic web integration. Authority control identifiers such as Library of Congress sh85127611 and GND 4020660-9, though associated with the general "statute" concept, demonstrate how this specific law fits into global legal documentation frameworks.

### Contemporary Relevance and Application
Despite enactment four decades ago during a military regime, the law remains active and accessible through official channels. The Planalto portal's maintenance of 1980s legislation indicates ongoing legal validity unless explicitly revoked. Modern Brazilian universities continue to operate under the vacancy regulation framework established by such statutes, though subsequent legislation may have amended specific provisions. The law's digital preservation through LexML and presidential archives ensures that current administrators, legal scholars, and educational planners can retrieve the original text for interpretation and compliance purposes. Its inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws further suggests that legal researchers and students regularly reference this statute when studying educational policy, administrative law, or the legal history of Brazil's transition from military rule.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1983-12-14;7165)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=7165&ano=1983&data=14/12/1983&ato=e98gXUE50dBpWT866)
3. LexML Brasil