The Brazilian National Congress is a political institution that represents the seat of the legislative power in Brazil.
Located in Brasília, in the country's capital, its function is to exercise legislative power.
The Brazilian federal legislative power is exercised in two houses: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The main activities of the congressmen of the two houses are the legislative function and the inspection of the others powers.
The National Congress building in Brasília (DF)
Operation and Attributions
The National Congress is composed of deputies, with four-year terms, and senators, who can be elected for up to eight years.
There are a total of 81 senators for the 27 federative units (26 States and the Federal District). 513 federal deputies are elected by the states.
Each house elects a president. So there is the president of the Chamber of Deputies and the president of the Senate. Both must obey a common regiment, which is directed by the Bureau of the National Congress. The presiding board is always in charge of the president of the Senate and the other functions are carried out by the Chamber of Deputies.
The working arrangements of the two houses are called legislative periods. The first term starts on February 2nd and ends on July 17th.
The second starts on August 1st and runs until December 22nd. There is the possibility of extraordinary calls if the agenda so justifies.
Subjects Discussed at the Congress:
- Multi-Year Plan
- The Budget Guidelines Law
- The Annual Budget Law
- Provisional Measures issued by the Executive Branch
- Regulation of the tax system
- Income collection and distribution
- Fixing and modifying the number of Armed Forces personnel
- Internal and external territorial limits
- Amnesty grant
- Creation, transformation and extinction of positions, jobs and public functions
- Currency issuance, with its limits and amount of federal securities debt
- Authorization to the President of the Republic to declare war or peace
- They will declare a state of siege
- Authorization of referendums
- Calls for plebiscites
As a way to guarantee the exercise of their functions, parliamentarians have a series of benefits. They are entitled to so-called parliamentary immunity. This measure is characterized by the impediment of provisional detention, preventive detention or imprisonment for a final and unappealable criminal sentence.
Parliamentary immunity guarantees privileged forum. In other words, federal deputies and councilors can only be judged by the STF (Supreme Federal Court). Congressmen are also not incorporated into the Armed Forces and are not required to testify to sensitive information during their term of office.
Historic
The National Congress was created in 1824, following the bicameralism model of the French monarchic Charter, drawn up after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Imperial Constitution determined, in its article 14, the creation of a "General Assembly", which would integrate the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
With the end of the Monarchy and the rise of the Republic, the new Constitution of 1891 formalized the Legislative power as exercise of the National Congress. The composition of this model included the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate.
In 1934, the new Constitution broke with bicameralism. The break was clear in Article 22, where it was determined that the Legislative Power would be exercised by the Chamber of Deputies. The Federal Senate had the status of collaborator.
A new condition of Congress would come by the 1937 Constitution. Under the new Magna Carta, replacing the National Congress, a "National Parliament" would be instituted. This structural model was broken by then president Getúlio Vargas (1882 - 1954). The form of government adopted by Getúlio was marked by the recurrent edition of decree-laws.
It was only in 1946 that the Brazilian legislative power was once again called the "National Congress". The former physical headquarters of the National Congress is in Rio de Janeiro, the former federal capital. It is the Tiradentes Palace, which started to be used in this function in 1926.
In the 60s, the National Congress was transferred to Brasília, the current seat of the Federal District. Brasília was designed to be the country's capital under the architectural coordination of Oscar Niemeyer (1907 - 2012).
The architect designed an iconic building that houses the two legislative houses, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
With the 1964 Military Coup, the National Congress was closed once more. Activities in the democratic period resumed in 1988, when the current Constitution was voted on.
Curiosities
- The president of the Federal Senate is the presidential successor after the vice president. In the event of their departure, the president of the Senate takes over the work at the Palácio do Planalto, which is the seat of the federal executive power.
- On December 6, 2007, Iphan (Institute of National Artistic and Historical Heritage) overturned the architectural structure of the National Congress, making it a national heritage
See also:
- Brazilian Political Reform
- 1964 Military Coup
- Military Dictatorship in Brazil
- Direct now
- It was Vargas
