Institutional acts: concept, main and effects

You institutional acts were decrees of constitutional force drawn up by military governments during the period of Military dictatorship. In all, 17 acts were issued in the first five years of this regime, and they fulfilled the function of guarantee the legitimacy, from a legal point of view, and the institutionalization of a dictatorship military. In this text, we will see a summary of the first five institutional acts.

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Understanding institutional acts

During the government of Humberto Castello Branco (in a dark suit), the institutionalization of the military began with institutional acts.[1]

Institutional acts were decrees with the power of the Constitution and were used by the military to give legitimacy to the violence and illegalities committed during the period of the Military Dictatorship. In all, were issued 17actsinstitutional, between 1964 and 1969.

These acts were part of a major effort by the military to create a

legal apparatus that gave legitimacy to the dictatorship. In addition to them, other laws were issued during this period, such as the National Security Law of 1967 and the Press Law of the same year. Institutional acts acted towards expand the powers of the Executive.

This expansion was carried out in a depersonalized manner, since the powers granted to the president for institutional acts were only valid if they were validated within the hierarchy of military. In the words of historian Marcos Napolitano:

The Acts were fundamental for the affirmation of the tutelary character of the State, structured from a regime authoritarian who did not want to personalize the exercise of political power, at the risk of losing its character properly military. So that the Army could directly exercise political command and maintain some unity, fundamental in the process that was believed to be ongoing, it was necessary to routinize the autocracy and depersonalize power. The authority of the president, a key figure in this project, should emanate from his condition hierarchical structure within the Armed Forces […] and an institutional norm that would support the tutelage over the system […]|1|.

Institutional acts, therefore, were fundamental in the process of institutionalization of the dictatorship military, since it was through them that the transition from a state of authoritarianism was made, with the maintenance of some freedoms, towards a state of absolute repression, marked by the existence of terrorism of State. In short, it was institutional acts that consolidated the violence of the dictatorship in Brazil.

The process of legal consolidation of the dictatorship through acts can be seen in the introduction of Institutional Act No. 1, issued on April 9, 1964. This decree contained the following excerpt:

The victorious revolution invests itself in the exercise of Constituent Power. This is manifested by popular election or revolution. This is the most expressive and most radical form of the Constituent Power. Thus, the victorious revolution, as a Constituent Power, legitimizes itself. It deposes the previous government and has the capacity to constitute the new government. It contains the normative force inherent to the Constituent Power. It issues legal norms without being limited by the norms prior to its victory.|2|.

This excerpt manages to demonstrate what the military in power were: the institutional act only reinforced the notion that their power was derived from themselves and that the legal norms were edited because the power of the military could not be limited by the laws prior to 1964 coup.

Main institutional acts

The main institutional acts were the first five, issued between 1964 and 1968, since, through them, the institutionalization of the regime was built. Among them, Institutional Act No. 5 was the most famous because it initiated the moment of greatest violence of the Military Dictatorship, the well-known “years oldinlead”.

• Institutional Act No. 1

O first institutional act was issued on April 9, 1964, right after the blow that brought down João Goulart of the presidency. In it, as we have already seen, the military placed themselves in the situation of legitimizers of their own power, with AI-1 being the means by which they removed the legal basis for irregular actions that happened and would still happen.

Through this institutional act, the government of Humberto Castello Branco had legal permission to perform the imprisonment of citizens through investigations known as Police-Military Inquiry, or IPM. These people were imprisoned in makeshift locations such as football stadiums, and an estimated 50,000 people were arrested via IPM|3|.

In addition, AI-1 facilitated the conditions to promote the purge in the civil service. This resulted in the dismissal and compulsory retirement of numerous people. These measures (prison of citizens and purges of civil servants) had the objective of “sanitize” Brazilian society and depoliticize all those who could oppose the dictatorship, especially those from the centre-left and left.

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• Institutional Act No. 2

O Institutional Act No. 2 was issued on October 27, 1965 and an indication that the dictatorship was moving towards the imposition of an increasingly authoritarian regime. At that point, many conservatives who supported the 1964 coup broke with the dictatorship because that act demonstrated more clearly that the military was unwilling to surrender power.

In the preamble to this act, the following sentence was written: “It was not said that the revolution was, but that it is and will continue. So its Constituent Power has not been exhausted, so much so is the revolutionary process itself, which has to be dynamic in order to achieve its goals.”|4|. Here the intention of the military not to leave power was clearly expressed.

Through AI-2, the President's powers have been strengthened, with him being able, for example, to hunt the political rights of any citizen for 10 years. In addition, political parties were dissolved, the presidential election started to be held indirectly, which deeply displeased groups such as liberals.

Complementing AI-2, on November 20, 1965, Complementary Act No. 4 was issued, which determined the conditions for the existence of political parties in Brazil, making the existence of only two political parties. These parties were the National Renewal Alliance, the Arena, and the Brazilian Democratic Movement, the MDB.

• Institutional Act No. 3 and No. 4

O AI-3 was issued on the day February 5, 1966, and with him it was established that the election of governors would be indirect, just as the presidential election already was. As for the city halls of the capitals, the criterion would be the appointment. The mayors of the capitals would be appointed by the governors and would have to pass the approval of the Legislative Assembly of each state.

O AI-4 was issued on December 7, 1966, and through it, the dictatorship called for the elaboration of a new constitution in order to replace the 1946 Constitution, which was still in force, but which had undergone numerous changes due to previous institutional acts. After AI-4, the 1967 Constitution.

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• Institutional Act No. 5

It was during the government of Artur da Costa e Silva that, on December 13, 1968, Institutional Act nº 5.[1]

This institutional act was the best known of all those that were downloaded by the dictatorship. He consolidated the institutionalization of the military and established an oppressive regime that guaranteed the expansion of apparatuses for the persecution and repression of Brazilian citizens. Illegal actions, such as torture, gained encouragement through AI-5.

Institutional Act No. 5 was issued on December 13, 1968, during the government of Artur da Costa e Silva. It was the result of the social and political context in Brazil that year and completed the military's objective of expanding the regime closure. This year was marked by demonstrations of workers and students.

The repression of these movements by the military was very great, until, in the second half of the year, demonstrations of opposition began to take place within political circles. The trigger for the decree of AI-5 is considered to be two speeches made by the MDB deputy Márcio Moreira Alves, on September 2 and 3, 1968.

He called on the population to boycott the celebrations of September 7th and accused the army of being a haven for torturers. The military used this as a justification for closing the regime after deputies in the National Congress refused to give permission for the deputy in question to be prosecuted by the government. However, Antônio Delfim Netto, a member of the Costa e Silva government, admitted, years later, that Márcio Moreira's speech was used as an excuse for the concrete implementation of a dictatorship.

The AI-5 was tough and severely expanded the powers of the president of the republic. One of the most significant measures of this act was the end of the habeas corpus for crimes against “national security”. This gave enormous powers to the military and made it possible for prisoners to be tortured longer in government prisons. If you want to know more about this dark period in Brazilian history, read: Institutional Act No. 5.

Grades

|1| NAPOLITANO, Marcos. 1964: History of the Military Regime. São Paulo: Context, 2016. P. 80.

|2| Institutional Act No. 1. To access, click on here.

|3| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloisa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. P. 456.

|4| Institutional Act No. 2. To access, click on here.

Image credits

[1] FGV/CPDOC

By Daniel Neves
History teacher

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/atos-institucionais.htm