Legal System of Brazil: Analysis of Parliamentary System and Sources of Law

Transcript
Hello everyone. My name is [Student Name], and I have researched
Brazil in this assignment. I analysed the parliamentary system of the
country along with its sources of law. I also identified the category of the
legal system of the country, along with an explanation of the concept of
the rule of law to determine how strong it is in Brazil. Brazil is a
“federative republic” which consists of 26 states, and the capital of the
country is Brasilia. Brazil is a “federal presidential representative
democratic republic” in which the President is considered as the “head of
the country and the government” (Adorno, 2013). The federal government
of the country is considered as a political and administrative organisation
which has three branches including “executive, judicial and legislative”.
Although the President has the power to make decisions; however, those
decisions cannot be made with the approval of Congress.
There are different sources of law in Brazil which provides provisions
regarding the legislative framework that govern the operations of the
company. The Constitution is the key source of law and provisions are
given under the “Brazilian Constitution of 1988” that governs the actions
of judiciary in the country (Santos & Guarnieri, 2016). The constitution
amendments are also a key source of law along with other
complementary laws which are implemented for achieving the objectives
of the Constitution. There are various codes and legislation implemented
in the country which are also considered as key sources of law such as
“Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Consumer Defence Code, Commercial
Code, Tax Code, Mining Code, Code of Water, Electoral Code, Military
Penal Code, Code of Military Procedure and others”. The Official Gazettes
which are issued by the government are also considered as a source of
law. Since Brazil did not comply with common law principles, the judicial
decisions are not considered as a formal source of law; however, they are
considered as a significant factor that supports the legal provisions in the
country. Furthermore, the legal opinions given by scholars are also
evaluated while identifying relevant sources of law and the opinions of

reputable scholars are also considered by courts; however, they are not a
formal source of law (Santos & Guarnieri, 2016). Lastly, international laws,
including treaties and conventions, are also considered as a source of law
in the country.
A hierarchical structure is followed by Brazil in its court system in which
the “Supreme Federal Court” is the highest judicial authority, and its
decisions are enforceable on lower courts. Furthermore, the courts are
divided between specialised and ordinary courts in which the federal
government is responsible for managing the specialised courts which
consists of “Military courts, Labour courts and Electoral courts” (Dolinger
& Tiburcio, 2017). The ordinary courts include “Federal and State
judiciaries” and “municipalities did not have any judicial powers in the
country.
The category of the legal system in Brazil is Romano Germanic since the
Constitution is considered as the supreme law, and the President is
considered as the “head of the country and the government”. The country
did not comply with the provisions of “Anglo-Saxon legal system” since it
did not consider legal precedents as a formal source of law even when
they play a major role (Ponticelli & Alencar, 2016). Based on Romano
Germanic legal system, the President is the highest authority and
separation has been made between “executive, judiciary and legislative”
authorities as well. Other principles of this legal system which are
available in the case of Brazil include “codification, legislative positivism
and natural laws”. There is the concept of secondary and subordinate
statutory laws available in the country as well. Moreover, the details given
in the codes and legislation of the country are detailed and very long with
an objective to eliminate ambiguity, and they generally avoid factual
specific scenarios.
The “Rule of law” is referred to a legal concept which provides that
governments and individuals are bound by the law and they cannot act
outside them; it also provides that “no one is above the law” as well. In
the case of Brazil, the strength of the legal system of the country is