# Law No. 7444 of December 20, 1985

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649877](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649877)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-7444-of-december-20-1985

## Summary
Law No. 7444 of December 20, 1985 is a Brazilian federal statute promulgated by President José Sarney that establishes procedures and norms governing the Brazilian Election Justice system and the Superior Electoral Court. Enacted during Brazil's redemocratization period, this law provides the legal framework for electoral procedures and is permanently identified by the LexML URN `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1985-12-20;7444`.

## Key Facts
- **Official Title:** Lei nº 7444, de 20 de dezembro de 1985
- **Publication Date:** December 20, 1985
- **Promulgated By:** President José Sarney
- **Approving Authority:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Legal Form:** Federal statute (lei)
- **Jurisdiction:** Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Place of Publication:** Brasília, Federal District
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 7444/1985
- **LexML Brazil Identifier:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1985-12-20;7444
- **Official URL:** https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7444.htm
- **Primary Subjects:** Electoral procedure, Brazilian Election Justice, Superior Electoral Court (TSE), legal presentation requirements, and normative regulations
- **Wikimedia Project:** Documented under WikiProject Brazilian Laws

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 7444 of December 20, 1985?**
Law No. 7444 is a Brazilian federal statute enacted on December 20, 1985, that regulates electoral procedures and establishes norms for the Brazilian Election Justice system, including the Superior Electoral Court.

**Who signed Law No. 7444 into effect and when?**
President José Sarney promulgated Law No. 7444 on December 20, 1985, through the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil, making it effective on that date.

**What specific areas does Law No. 7444 regulate?**
The law governs electoral procedure (Procedimento), the Brazilian Election Justice (Justiça Eleitoral), the Superior Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral or TSE), requirements for legal presentation (Apresentação), and general legal norms (Normas) within the electoral system.

**Where can I find the complete text of Law No. 7444?**
The full text is publicly available at the official URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7444.htm, maintained by the Civilian House of the Presidency of Brazil.

**How is Law No. 7444 formally cited in legal documents?**
The standard legal citation for this statute is "Lei nº 7444/1985" or "Lei nº 7444, de 20 de dezembro de 1985" in Brazilian Portuguese.

**What type of legal instrument is Law No. 7444?**
Law No. 7444 is classified as a statute (lei), which is a formal written document that creates law and serves as a manifestation of statutory law under Brazilian jurisprudence.

**Is Law No. 7444 part of any special documentation project?**
Yes, this law is included in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative focused on systematically documenting Brazilian legislation.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 7444 of December 20, 1985 represents a critical component of Brazil's electoral legal architecture, enacted during the pivotal transition from military dictatorship to full democracy. As a statute specifically addressing the Brazilian Election Justice and Superior Electoral Court, it provides the procedural foundation that enables the electoral system to function with legal certainty and institutional legitimacy. The law's inclusion in the LexML digital repository and WikiProject Brazilian Laws demonstrates its enduring relevance as a reference point for electoral governance. Its availability through the official Planalto portal ensures that citizens, legal professionals, and researchers can access primary source material governing electoral processes, reinforcing transparency in democratic institutions. The statute exemplifies how formal written documents create binding legal norms that structure the administration of elections, candidate registration, and judicial oversight of electoral disputes in the world's fourth-largest democracy.

## Notable For
- **Redemocratization-Era Legislation:** Enacted in 1985 during Brazil's transition from military rule to democracy, representing foundational electoral law for the new democratic era
- **Superior Electoral Court Governance:** Specifically establishes procedures and norms for the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), Brazil's highest electoral authority
- **Permanent Digital Identifier:** Assigned the LexML URN `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1985-12-20;7444` for permanent, standardized citation in digital legal systems
- **Public Domain Status:** As an official government edict, the law is in the public domain and freely accessible without copyright restrictions
- **Wikimedia Documentation:** Selected for inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating its significance for encyclopedic coverage of Brazilian legislation
- **Presidential Promulgation:** Signed by José Sarney, who served as the first civilian president after 21 years of military dictatorship
- **Federal Scope:** Applies to the entire national jurisdiction of Brazil, including all 26 states and the Federal District
- **Multi-Subject Framework:** Addresses five distinct legal domains within a single statute: procedure, electoral justice, superior court operations, presentation requirements, and normative structures

## Body

### Basic Identification and Citation
Law No. 7444 of December 20, 1985, officially titled "Lei nº 7444, de 20 de dezembro de 1985," is a federal statute of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The law is formally cited as "Lei nº 7444/1985" in legal practice and academic references. It was published in the official gazette in Brasília, the federal capital, on its enactment date of December 20, 1985. The statute is written entirely in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. As a formal written document that creates law, it exemplifies the statutory law tradition in Brazilian jurisprudence.

### Legal Classification and Authority
This legislation is classified as a statute (lei), which under Brazilian law represents the highest form of ordinary legislation enacted by the federal government. Statutes serve as manifestations of statutory law and function as official records of legal rules enacted by governmental authority. Law No. 7444 is an instance of this class of legal instrument, differentiated from executive orders, provisional measures, or by-laws. The law applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, encompassing all 26 states—Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, and Tocantins—as well as the Federal District where Brasília is located.

### Promulgation and Historical Context
President José Sarney promulgated Law No. 7444 on December 20, 1985, through the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. This occurred during the first year of his presidency, which began on March 15, 1985, marking the end of Brazil's military dictatorship that had lasted since 1964. Sarney's presidency represented the transition government between military rule and the full restoration of civilian democracy, which would be completed with the 1988 Constitution. The promulgation method was standard presidential decree, the determination method specified in the official records. The law's enactment date places it within the critical period of democratic reconstruction, when Brazil was rebuilding its institutional framework for free elections and civilian governance.

### Subject Matter and Provisions
The statute addresses five primary subject areas as documented in its metadata. First, it regulates "procedure" (Procedimento) within the electoral system, establishing the step-by-step processes that must be followed. Second, it governs the "Brazilian Election Justice" (Justiça Eleitoral), the specialized branch of the judiciary responsible for overseeing electoral matters. Third, it specifically addresses the "Superior Electoral Court" (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral or TSE), which is the highest body within the Election Justice system. Fourth, it establishes requirements for "presentation" (Apresentação) of legal matters before electoral authorities. Fifth, it creates "legal norms" (Normas) that provide the substantive rules governing electoral conduct. These subjects collectively form a comprehensive framework for electoral administration and judicial oversight.

### Digital Preservation and Access
Law No. 7444 benefits from permanent digital identification through the LexML Brazil system, which assigns the Uniform Resource Name (URN) `urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1985-12-20;7444`. This identifier ensures stable, long-term citation and retrieval across digital platforms. The full text is available at the official URL https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1980-1988/l7444.htm, hosted by the Civilian House of the Presidency of Brazil. This portal provides public access to the complete legislative text without copyright restriction, consistent with the principle that official government edicts belong to the public domain. The law's digital preservation facilitates legal research, academic study, and citizen oversight of electoral regulations.

### Documentation and Knowledge Management
The statute is formally documented within WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a Wikimedia initiative dedicated to systematically cataloging and improving coverage of Brazilian legislation. This project ensures that Law No. 7444 receives structured documentation across Wikimedia platforms, enhancing discoverability and cross-referencing with related legal concepts. The inclusion in this project signals the law's importance within the broader corpus of Brazilian federal legislation from the 1980s. The law's metadata includes references dated January 28, 2021, and February 17, 2021, indicating recent verification and updates to its digital records. These documentation efforts support transparency and accessibility of electoral law.

### Relationship to Brazilian Legal System
As a federal statute, Law No. 7444 operates within Brazil's hierarchical legal system, where the 1988 Constitution (promulgated three years later) now serves as the supreme law. The statute remains valid unless specifically revoked or superseded by subsequent legislation. Its provisions concerning the Superior Electoral Court interact with the court's constitutional mandate established in the 1988 Constitution. The law exemplifies the statutory law tradition in Brazil, where formal written documents enacted through legislative process create binding legal norms. The Brazilian Election Justice system, which this law helps regulate, is a specialized jurisdiction that handles voter registration, candidate eligibility, campaign finance, and election disputes, operating alongside the ordinary judicial system.

### Technical Specifications and Metadata
The law's structured metadata includes multiple verified references from official sources. The LexML identifier follows the URN:LEX standard, which provides a universal naming convention for legal documents. The publication date is consistently recorded as 1985-12-20 across all official databases. The place of publication, Brasília, reflects the federal capital's role as the seat of legislative and executive power since 1960. The language specification as Brazilian Portuguese acknowledges the distinct variant of Portuguese used in Brazil's legal system. The legal citation format "Lei nº 7444/1985" follows Brazilian conventions of combining law number with year for concise reference. The statute's digital footprint includes verification timestamps from 2021, ensuring current accuracy of bibliographic information.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1985-12-20;7444)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=7444&ano=1985&data=20/12/1985&ato=375cXRE9keBpWT1ab)