CONSTITUTION OF BRAZIL

See also:

TITLE Vlll - THE SOCIAL ORDER

CHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISION

Article 193. The social order is based OIl the primacy of work and aimed at social well-being and justice.

CHAPTER II - SOCIAL WELFARE

SECTION I - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 194. Social welfare comprises an integrated whole of actions initiated by the Government and by society, with the purpose of ensuring the rights to health, social security and assistance.
Sole paragraph - It is incumbent upon the Government, as provided by law. to organize social welfare, based on the following objectives:
I - universality of coverage and service;
II - uniformity and equivalence of benefits and services for urban and rural populations;
III - selectivity and distributiveness in the provision of benefits and services;
IV - irreducibility of the value of the benefits;
V - equitable participation in funding;
VI - diversity of the financing basis;
VII - democratic and decentralized character of management, by means of a four-parties administration, with the participation of workers, employers, retired persons and the Government in the collective bodies.

Clause VII amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998, which included the reference to the Government.

Article 195. Social welfare shall be financed by all of society, either directly or indirectly, as provided by law, with funds coming from the budgets of the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities and from the following welfare contributions:
I - of employers, of companies and of entities equivalent to companies as determined by law, levied on:

a) the salaries payroll and other incomes derived of work paid or credited, on any account, to an individual who renders service, even if without a labour contract;

b) revenues or turnover;

c) profits.

Clause I amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998. The former text didn´t cover the large share of informal labour relationships which exist in Brazil; with the new text, even informal workers are supposed to pay welfare contributions. Original text read: "I - of employers, calculated on the payroll, revenues and profits;"

II - of workers and of all other beneficiaries of the social security, the contribution not being levied on retirement payments and pensions granted by the general regime of social security established by article 201;

Clause II amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998. Original text read: "II - of workers".

III - and the revenues of lotteries.
IV - of the importers of goods or services from abroad, or of those equivalent to them, as set forth by law.

Clause IV added by CA 42, December 19th 2003.

Paragraph 1 - The revenues of the states, the Federal District and the municipalities allotted to social welfare shall be included in the respective budgets, not being part of the budget of the Union.
Paragraph 2 - The proposal for the social welfare budget shall be drawn up jointly by the agencies responsible for health, social security and social assistance, in accordance with the goals and priorities established in the law of budgetary directives, ensuring each area of the management of its funds.
Paragraph 3 - A legal entity indebted to the social welfare system, as established in law, may not contract with the Government nor receive benefits or fiscal or credit incentives therefrom.
Paragraph 4 - The law may institute other sources intended to guarantee the maintenance or expansion of social welfare, with due regard to the provisions of article 154, I.
Paragraph 5 - No social welfare benefit or service may be created, increased or extended without a corresponding source of full funding.
Paragraph 6 - The social contributions referred to in this article may only be collected ninety days after the publication of the law which instituted or modified them, the provisions of article 150, III, b, not applying thereto.
Paragraph 7 - Benevolent entities of social assistance which meet the requirements established in law shall be exempt from contribution to social welfare.
Paragraph 8 - Rural producers, sharecroppers and tenant farmers, placer miners and self-employed fishermen, as well as their spouses, who exercise their activities within a household system and without permanent employees shall contribute to social welfare by applying a rate to the proceeds from the sale of their production and shall be entitled to the benefits provided by law.

Paragraph 8 amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998. The CA eliminated the words "the gold diggers" from the text.
Paragraph 9. The welfare contributions established by clause I of this article may have different rates or bases of assessment, on account of the economic activity, the intensive utilization of work force, the size of the company and the structural conditions of the labor market..

Paragraph 9 added by CA 20, December 15th 1998, and amended by CA 47, July 5th 2005, which introduced the words "the size of company and the structural conditions of the labor market".

Paragraph 10. The law shall establish the criteria of transference of funds for the unified health system and welfare activities from the Union to the States, the Federal District and municipalities, with observance of the respective counter parts of funds.
Paragraph 11. The granting of remission or amnesty of welfare contributions subject of clauses I, a, and II of this article, for debts of amounts superior to those set forth by supplementary law is prohibited.

Paragraphs 10 and 11 added by CA 20, December 15th 1998.

Paragraph 12. The law shall define the sectors of economic activity for which the contributions levied in accordance with clauses I, b and IV of the caption shall be non-cumulative.
Paragraph 13. The provisions of paragraph 12 shall still apply even in case of gradual, total or parcial substitution of the contribution levied as provided by clause I, a, by the contribution levied on revenues or turn over.

Paragraphs 12 and 13 added by CA 42, December 19th 2003.

SECTION II - HEALTH

Article 196. Health is a right of all and a duty of the State and shall be guaranteed by means of social and economic policies aimed at reducing the risk of illness and other hazards and at the universal and equal access to actions and serv ices for its promotion, protection and recovery.

Article 197. Health actions and services are of public importance, and it is incumbent upon the Government to provide, in accordance with the law, for their regulation, supervision and control, and they shall be carried out directly or by third parties and also by individuals or private legal entities.

Article 198. Health actions and public services integrate a regionalized and hierarchical network and constitute a single system, organized according to the following directives:
I - decentralization, with a single management in each sphere of government;
II - full service, priority being given to preventive activities, without prejudice to assistance services;
III - participation of the community.
Paragraph 1. - The unified health system shall be financed, as set forth in article 195, with funds from the social welfare budget of the Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, as well as from other sources.
Paragraph 2. The Union, the States, the Federal District and the municipalities shall invest, annually, a minimum amount in public health activities and services, calculated as percentages of proceeds and revenues, as follows:
I - in the case of the Union, as per the provisions of the supplementary law subject of paragraph 3;
II - in the case of States and Federal District, the proceeds of taxes subject of the article 155 and the revenues subject of articles 157 and 159, I, a, and clause II, discounted the amounts which shall be remitted to the municipalities;
III - in the case of municipalities and Federal District, the proceeds of the taxes subject of article 156 and the revenues subject of articles 158 and 159, I, b and paragraph 3.
Paragraph 3. A supplementary law, which shall be reassessed at least every five years, shall establish:
I - the percentages mentioned by paragraph 2;
II - the criteria by which the following shall be shared: the fundings of the Union bound to health spendings to be remitted to the States, Federal District and municipalities, and the respective State funds to be remitted to the municipalities, with the aim of a progressive reduction of regional unequalities;
III - the norms for accounting, assessment and control of expenditures with health at federal, state, districtal and municipal levels;
IV - the norms for calculation of the amount to be invested by the Union.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 and respective clauses added by CA 29, September 13th 2000.

Paragraph 4 - The local managers of the Unified Health System may admit communitary health agents and endemy combat agents, by means of a public admission process, in accordance with the nature and complexity of the assignments and with specific requirements of performance.
Paragraph 5 - Federal law shall provide for the juridical regime and the regulatory norms of the activities of the communitary health agents and the endemy combat agents.
Paragraph 6 - Besides the cases mentioned by paragraph 1 of article 41 and paragraph 4 of article 169 of the Federal Constitution, the civil servant exercizing functions equivalents to those of the communitary health agents and endemy combat agents may lose office in case of non meeting of specific requirements, established by law, to its exercize.

Paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 added by CA 51, February 14th 2006.

Article 199. Health assistance is open to private enterprise.
Paragraph 1 - Private institutions may participate in a supplementary manner in the unified health system, in accordance with the directives established by the latter, by means of public law contracts or agreements, preference being given to philanthropic and non-profit entities.
Paragraph 2 - The allocation of public funds to aid or subsidize profit- oriented private institutions is forbidden.
Paragraph 3 - Direct or indirect participation of foreign companies or capital in heath assistance in the country is forbidden, except in cases provided by law.
Paragraph 4 - The law shall provide for the conditions and requirements which facilitate the removal of organs, tissues and human substances for the purpose of transplants, research and treatment, as well as the collection, processing and transfusion of blood and its by-products, all kinds of sale being forbidden.

Article 200. It is incumbent upon the unified health system, in addition to other duties, as set forth by the law:
I - to supervise and control proceedings, products and substances of interest to health and to participate in the production of drugs, equipments, immunobiological products, blood products and other inputs;
II - to carry out actions of sanitary and epidemiologic vigilance as well as those relating to the health of workers;
III - to organize the training of personnel in the area of health;
IV - to participate in the definition of the policy and in the implementation of basic sanitation actions;
V - to foster, within its scope of action, scientific and technological development;
VI - to supervise and control foodstuffs, including their nutritional contents, as well as drinks and water for human consumption;
VII - to participate in the supervision and control of the production, transportation, storage and use of pschycoactive, toxic and radioactive substances and products;
VIII - to cooperate in the preservation of the environment, including that of the workplace.

SECTION III - SOCIAL SECURITY

Article 201. The social security shall be organized under a general regime, of contributive character and mandatory affiliation, with due regard to criteria which preserve the financial and long term balance, and shall provide for the following:

Article 201 amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998. This CA became known as the Social Security Amendment. Notice that this CA made also significant changes to article 40 of this Constitution, which regulates the social security of the civil servants. See original text at the end of the article.

I - coverage for the events of illness, disability, death and old age;
II - protection to maternity, especially to women while pregnant;
III - protection to workers in situation of involuntary unemployment;
IV - family-salary and reclusion-aid for the dependents of the low-income insurance;
V - pension for death of the insured, man or woman, to the spouse or companion and dependents, complying with the provisions of paragraph 2.
Paragraph 1. The use of different requirements and criteria for the granting of retirement to the beneficiaries of the general regime of social security is prohibited, excepted the cases of activities exercized under special conditions which harm the health or the physical integrity and the cases of handicapped people, as defined in supplementary law.

Paragraph 1 amended by CA 47, July 5th 2005, which added the reference to the handicapped.

Paragraph 2. No benefit which replaces the contribution salary or work earnings of the insured shall have a monthly value lower than the minimum wage.
Paragraph 3. All contribution salaries included in the calculation of the benefit shall be adjusted by monetary correction.
Paragraph 4. Adjustment of the benefits is ensured, so that its real value is permanently maintained, in accordance with criteria defined by law.
Paragraph 5. People participating of other social security regimes are prohibited from affiliating, in an optional manner, the general regime of social security.
Paragraph 6. The Christmas bonus for the retired and pensioners shall be based on the value of the earnings in the month of December of each year.
Paragraph 7. It is ensured retirement under the general regime of social security, in the manner prescribed by law, with observance of the following:
I - 35 (thirty-five) years of contribution, if man, and 30 (thirty) years of contribution, if women;
II - 65 (sixty-five) years of age, if man, and 60 (sixty) years of age, if woman, these figures being reduced in 5 (five) years for the rural workers of both genders and for those who perform their activities in a regime of familiary economy, including the rural producer, the placer miner and the handicrafted fisherman.
Paragraph 8. The requirements referred to by clause I of the previous paragraph shall be reduced in 5 (five) years, in the case of teachers who worked exclusively in educational functions in infant education and elementary and intermediary teaching.
Paragraph 9. For retirement effects, it is assured the reciprocal accounting of contribution time in the public administration and in the private sector, rural and urban, in which case the several social security regimes shall financially compensate each other, observing criteria set forth by law.
Paragraph 10. The law shall regulate the coverage of risks of labour accidents, which shall be attended concurrently by the general regime of social security and the private sector.
Paragraph 11. The amounts habitually earned by an employee, on any account, shall be incorporated into the salary for purposes of security contribution and the resulting effects on benefits, in the cases and in the manner provided by law.

Article 201, clauses I to V, paragraphs 1 to 12, added by CA 20, December 15th 1998.

Paragraph 12. The law shall provide for a special system of inclusion into the social security of the low income workers and of the housekeepers of low income families, ensuring them access to benefits of amount equal to one minimum salary.

Paragraph 12 added by CA 41, December 19th 2003, and amended by CA 47, July 5th 2005, which added the reference to housekeepers.

Paragraph 13. The special social security inclusion system subject of paragraph 12 of this article shall have friendlier rates and deadlines than those applied to the other beneficiaries of the general regime of social security.

Paragraph 13 added by CA 47, July 5th 2005.

Original text of this article:
The social security plans, upon contribution, shall provide for, in accordance with the law:
I - coverage for the events of illness, disability, death, including those resulting from employment related accidents, old age and confinement;
II - aid for the support of the dependants of the low-income insured;
III - protection to maternity, especially to pregnant women;
IV - protection to workers in a situation of involuntary unemployment;
V - pension for death of the insured, man or woman, to the spouse or companion, and dependants, complying with the provisions of paragraph 5 and of article 202.
Paragraph 1 - Any person may receive social security benefits, upon contributions, as established in the social security plans.
Paragraph 2 - Adjustment of the benefits is ensured, to the end that its real value is permanently maintained, in accordance with criteria defined by law.
Paragraph 3 - All contribution salaries included in the calculation of the benefit shall suffer monetary correction.
Paragraph 4 - The amounts habitually earned by an employee, on any account, shall be incorporated into the salary for purposes of security contribution and the resulting effects on benefits, in the cases and in the manner provided by law.
Paragraph 5 - No benefit which replaces the contribution salary or work earnings of the insured shall have a monthly value lower than the minimum wage.
Paragraph 6 - The Christmas bonus for the retired and pensioners shall be based on the value of the earnings in the month of December of each year.
Paragraph 7 - Social security shall maintain a collective insurance, of a complementary and optional nature, funded by additional contributions.
Paragraph 8 - Any subsidy or aid from Government to profit-oriented private security entities are forbidden.

Article 202. The regime of private social security, of supplementary nature and organized in an autonomous manner with regards to the general regime of social security, shall be optional, based on the constitution of reserves which guarantee the contracted benefit, and regulated by supplementary law.

Article 202 amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998. The original text of this article established the age required for retirement; these provisions were amended and turned into paragraphs of article 201.
Paragraph 1. The supplementary law subject of this article shall ensure to the participants of benefit plans of private social security entities the full access to information regarding the management of the respective plans.
Paragraph 2. The contributions of the employer, the benefits and the contract conditions established in estatutes, rules and benefit plans of the private social security entities shall not be considered pieces of the labour contract of the participants, and, except for the benefits received, shall not be considered remuneratin of the participants, under the terms of law.
Paragraph 3. The remitting of funds to private social security entities by the Union, States, Federal District and municipalities, their autarchies, foundations, public companies, mixed capital companies and other public entities is forbidden, except if in the role of co-payer, in which case, under any circunstances whatsoeer, the normal contribution shall not exceed the one of the ensured.
Paragraph 4.Supplementary law shall regulate the relationship amongst the Union, States, Federal District or municipalities, includind their autarchies, foundations, mixed capital companies and corporations directly or indirectly controlled, when in the role of co-payers of private social security entities, and their respective private social security closed entities.
Paragraph 5. The supplementary law referred to in the previous paragraph shall be applied, when possible, to private companies permissionary or concessionary of public services, when co-payers of private social security closed entities.
Paragraph 6. The supplementary law referred to in paragraph 4 of this article shall establish the requirements for the appointment of the members of the directory boards of the private social security closed entities and shall regulate the inclusion of participants in the boards and instances of decision in which their interests are subject of discussion and deliberation.

Article 202, paragraphs 1 to 6 amended by CA 20, December 15th 1998.

SECTION IV - SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

Article 203. Social assistance shall be rendered to whomever may need it, regardless of contribution to social welfare and shall have as objectives:
I - the protection of the family, maternity, childhood. adolescence and old age;
II - the assistance to needy children and adolescents;
III - the promotion of the integration into the labour market;
IV - the habilitation and rehabilitation of the handicapped and their integration into community life;
V - the guarantee of a monthly benefit of one minimum wage to the handicapped and to the elderly who prove their incapability of providing for their own support or having it provided for by their families. as set forth by law.

Article 204. Government actions in the area of social assistance shall be implemented with funds from the social welfare budget, as provided for in article 195, in addition to other sources, and organized on the basis of the following directives:
I - political and administrative decentralization, the coordination and the general rules being incumbent upon the federal sphere, and the coordination and implementation of the respective programmes, upon the state and municipal spheres, as well as upon benevolent and social assistance entities;
II - participation of the population, by means of organizations representing them in the formulation of policies and in the control of actions taken at all levels.
Sole paragraph. The States and the Federal District may allocate up to five tenths percent of their net tax proceedings to programmes of social inclusion and promotion, it being prohibited the use of these funds to pay for:
I - expenses with salaries and social duties;
II - interests of debts;
III - any other current expense not directly linked to the investments or activities supported.

Sole paragraph added by CA 19, December 19th 2003.

CHAPTER III - EDUCATION. CULTURE AND SPORTS

SECTION I - EDUCATION

Article 205. Education, which is the right of all and duty of the State and of the family, shall be promoted and fostered with the cooperation of society, with a view to the full development of the person, his preparation for the exercise of citizenship and his qualification for work.

Article 206. Education shall be provided on the basis of the following principles:
I - equal conditions of access and permanence in school;
II - freedom to learn, teach, research and express thought, art and knowledge;
III - pluralism of pedagogic ideas and conceptions and coexistence of public and private teaching institutions;
IV - free public education in official schools;
V - appreciation of the value of teaching professionals, guaranteeing, in accordance with the law, career plans for public school teachers, with a professional minimum salary and admittance exclusively by means of public entrance examinations consisting of tests and presentation of academic and or professional credentials;

Clause V shortened by CA 19, June 4th 1998. The original text contained the following words, in fine: ", a single legal regime being insured for all the institutions maintained by the Union". After the CA, the teachers could be hired as civil servants or as contracted teacher.

VI - democratic administration of public education, in the manner prescribed by law;
VII - guarantee of standards of quality.

Article 207. The universities shall have didactic, scientific, administrative, financial and property management autonomy and shall comply with the principle of non-dissociation of teaching, research and extension.
Paragraph 1 - The universities are permitted to hire foreign professors, technicians and scientists as provided by law.
Paragraph 2 - The provisions of this article apply to scientific and technological research institutions.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 added by CA 11, April 30th 1996. Before this CA, Brazilian universities were not allowed to hire foreign professors.

Article 208. The duty of the State towards education shall be fulfilled by ensuring the following:
I - mandatory and free elementary education, including the assurance of its free offer to all those who did not have access to it at the proper age;

Text in purple added by CA 14, September 12th 1996.

II - progressive universalization of the free high-school education;

Clause II amended by CA 14, September 12th 1996. Former text read the word "expansion", instead of universalization.

III - specialized schooling for the handicapped, preferably in the regular school system;
IV - assistance to children of zero to six years of age, in day-care centers and pre-schools;
V - access to higher levels of education, research and artistic creation according to individual capacity;
VI - provision of regular night courses adequate to the conditions of the student;
VII - assistance to elementary school students by means of supplementary programmes providing school material, transportation, food and health assistance.
Paragraph 1 - The access to compulsory and free education is a subjective public right.
Paragraph 2 - The competent authority shall be liable for the failure of the Government in providing compulsory education or providing it irregularly.
Paragraph 3 - The Government has the power to take a census of elementary school students, call them for enrollment and ensure that parents or guardians see to their children's attendance to school.

Article 209. Teaching is open to private enterprise, provided that the following conditions are met:
I - compliance with the general rules of national education;
II - authorization and evaluation of quality by the Government.

Article 210. Minimum curricula shall be established for elementary schools in order to ensure a common basic education and respect for national and regional cultural and artistic values.
Paragraph 1 - The teaching of religion is optional and shall be offered during the regular school hours of public elementary schools.
Paragraph 2 - Regular elementary education shall be given in the Portuguese language and Indian communities shall also be ensured the use of their native tongues and their own learning methods.

Article 211. The Union, the states, the Federal District and the municipalities shall cooperate in the organization of their educational systems.
Paragraph 1 - The Union shall organize the federal educational system and that of the Territories, shall finance the federal public educational institutions and shall have, in educational matters, a redistributive and supplementary function, so as to guarantee the equalization of the educational opportunities and a minimum standard of quality of education, through technical and financial assistance to the states, the Federal District and the municipalities.
Paragraph 2 - The municipalities shall act on a priority basis in elementary education and in the education of children.
Paragraph 3 - The states and the Federal District shall act on a priority basis in elementary and secondary education.
Paragraph 4 - In the operation of their educational systems, the states and municipalities shall establish forms of cooperation, so as to guarantee the universalization of the mandatory education.

Paragraph 1 to 4 amended by CA 14, September 12th 1996.

Article 212. The Union shall apply, annually, never less than eighteen percent, and the states, the Federal District, and the municipalities, at least twenty-five percent of the tax revenues, including those resulting from transfers, in the maintenance and development of education.
Paragraph 1 - The share of tax revenues, transferred by the Union to the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, or by the states to the respective municipalities, shall not be considered, for purposes of the calculation provided by this article, as revenues of the government which transfers it.
Paragraph 2 - For purposes of compliance with the caption of this article, the federal, state and municipal educational systems, as well as the funds applied in accordance with article 213 shall be taken into consideration.
Paragraph 3 - In the distribution of public funds, priority shall be given to the providing for the needs of compulsory education, as set forth in the national educational plan.
Paragraph 4 - The supplementary food and health assistance programmes provided by article 208, VII, shall be financed with funds derived from social contributions and other budgetary funds.
Paragraph 5 - The public elementary education shall have, as an additional source of financing, the social contribution for education, collected from companies, as provided by law.

Paragraph 5 added by CA 14, September 12th 1996.

Article 213. Public funds shall be allocated to public schools, and may be channelled to community, religious or philanthropic schools, as defined by law, which:
I - prove that they do not seek profit and that they apply their surplus funds in education;
II - ensure that their assets shall be assigned to another community, religious or philanthropic schools, or to the Government in case they cease their activities.
Paragraph 1 - The funds provided by this article may be allocated to elementary and secondary school scholarships, as provided by law, for those who prove insufficiency of means, when there are no vacancies or no regular courses are offered in the public school system of the place where the student lives, the Government being placed under the obligation to invest, on a priority basis, in the expansion of the public system of the locality.
Paragraph 2 - Research and extension activities at university level may receive financial support from the Government.

Article 214. The law shall establish the pluriannual national educational plan, with a view to the coordination and development of teaching, at its various levels, and to the integration of the Government actions leading to:
I - eradication of illiteracy;
II - universalization of school assistance;
III - improvement of the quality of education;
IV - professional training;
V - humanistic, scientific and technological advancement of the country.

SECTION II - CULTURE

Article 215. The state shall ensure to all the full exercise of the cultural rights and access to the sources of national culture and shall support and foster the appreciation and diffusion of cultural expressions.
Paragraph 1 - The State shall protect the expressions of popular, Indian and Afro-Brazilian cultures, as well as those of other groups participating in the national civilization process.
Paragraph 2 - The law shall provide for the establishment of commemorative dates of high significance for the various national ethnic segments.

Paragraph 3 - The shall shall establish the National Plan of Culture, with a plurianual duration, aiming at the cultural development of the Country and at the integration of the actions by the Public Power which lead to:
I - defense and valorization of the Brazilian Cultural Heritage;
II - production, promotion and difusion of culture;
III - formation of qualified personnel for the management of Culture in their multiple dimensions;
IV - democratization of access to culture;
V - valorization of ethnical and regional diversity.

Paragraph 3 added by CA 48, August 10th 2005.

Article 216. The Brazilian cultural heritage consists of the assets of a material and immaterial nature, taken individually or as a whole, which bear reference to the identity, action and memory of the various groups that form the Brazilian society, therein included:
I - forms of expression;
II - ways of creating, making and living;
III - scientific, artistic and technological creations;
IV - works, objects, documents, buildings and other spaces intended for artistic and cultural expressions;
V - urban complexes and sites of historical, natural, artistic, archaeological, paleontological, ecological and scientific value.
Paragraph 1 - The Government shall, with the cooperation of the community, promote and protect the Brazilian cultural heritage, by means of inventories, registers, vigilance, monument protection decrees, expropriation and other forms of precaution and preservation.
Paragraph 2 - It is incumbent upon the Government, in accordance with the law, to manage the keeping of the governmental documents and to make them available for consultation to whomever may need to do so.
Paragraph 3 - The law shall establish incentives for the production and knowledge of cultural assets and values.
Paragraph 4 - Damages and threats to the cultural heritage shall be punished in accordance with the law.
Paragraph 5 - All documents and sites bearing historical reminiscence to the ancient communities of runaway slaves are protected as national heritage.
Paragraph 6. The States and the Federal District may allocate up to five tenths percent of their net tax proceedings to a State fund for fomenting culture, it being prohibited the use of these funds to pay for: I - expenses with salaries and social duties; II - interests of debts; III - any other current expense not directly linked to the investments or activities supported.

Paragraph 6 added by CA 19, December 19th 2003.

SECTION III - SPORTS

Article 217. It is the duty of the State to foster the practice of formal and informal sports, as a right of each individual, with due regard for:
I - the autonomy of the directing sports entities and associations, as to their organization and operation;
II - the allocation of public funds with a view to promoting, on a priority basis, educational sports and, in specific cases, high performance sports;
III - differentiated treatment for professional and non-professional sports;
IV - the protection and fostering of sports created in the country.
Paragraph 1 - The Judicial Power shall only accept legal actions related to sports discipline and competitions after the instances of the sports courts, as regulated by law, have been exhausted.
Paragraph 2 - The sports courts shall render final judgement within sixty days, at the most, counted from the date of the filing of the action.
Paragraph 3 - The Government shall encourage leisure, as a form of social promotion.

CHAPTER IV - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Article 218. The State shall promote and foster scientific development, research and technological expertise.
Paragraph 1 - Basic scientific research shall receive preferential treatment from the State, with a view to public well-being and the advancement of science.
Paragraph 2 - Technological research shall be directed mainly to the solution of Brazilian problems and to the development of the national and regional productive system.
Paragraph 3 - The State shall support the training of human resources in the areas of science, research and technology and shall offer special work means and conditions to those engaged in such activities.
Paragraph 4 - The law shall support and foster the companies which invest in research, creation of technology appropriate for the country, training and improvement of their human resources and those which adopt remuneration systems that ensure employees a share of the economic earnings rc sulting from the productivity of their work, apart from the salary.
Paragraph 5 - The states and the Federal District may allocate a share of their budgetary revenues to public entities which foster scientific and technological education and research.

Article 219. The domestic market is pan of the national patrimony and shall be supported with a view to permitting cultural and socio-economic development, the well-being of the population and the technological autonomy of the country, as set forth in a federal law.

CHAPTER V - SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

Article 220. The manifestation of thought, the creation, the expression and the information, in any form, process or medium shall not be subject to any restriction, with due regard to the provisions of this constitution.
Paragraph 1 - No law shall contain any provision which may represent a hindrance to full freedom of press in any medium of social communication, with due regard to the provisions of article 5, IV, V, X XIII, and XIV.
Paragraph 2 - Any and all censorship of a political, ideological and artistic nature is forbidden.
Paragraph 3 - It is within the competence of federal laws to:
I - regulate public entertainment and shows, it being incumbent upon the Government to inform on their nature, the age brackets they are not recommended for and places and times unsuitable for their exhibition:
II - establish legal means which afford persons and families the possibilities of defending themselves against radio and television programmes and schedules which go contrary to the provisions of article 221, as well as against publicity of products, practices and services which may be harmful to health or to the environment.
Paragraph 4 - Commercial advertising of tobacco, alcoholic beverages, pesticides, medicines and therapies shall be subject to legal restrictions, in accordance with item II of the preceding paragraph and shall contain, whenever necessary, a warning concerning the damages which may be caused by their use.
Paragraph 5 - Social communication media may not, directly or indirectly, be subject to monopoly or oligopoly.
Paragraph 6 - The publication of a printed social communication medium shall not depend on license from authorities.

Article 221. The production and programming of radio and television stations shall comply with the following principles:
I - preference to educational, artistic, cultural and informative purposes;
II - promotion of national and regional culture and fostering of independent productions aimed at their diffusion;
III - regional differentiation of cultural, artistic and press production, according to percentages established by the law;
IV - respect for the ethical and social values of the person and the family.

Article 222. The ownership of newspapers companies, sound broadcasting companies and sounds and images broadcasting companies is right exclusive of native Brazilians or those naturalized for more than 10 (ten) years, or of corporations constituted in accordance to Brazilian laws and with head office in the country.
Paragraph 1. In any case, at least 70% (seventy percent) of the total capital and of the voting capital of newspapers companies, sound broadcasting companies and sounds and images broadcasting companies shall be owned, directly or indirectly, by native Brazilians or those naturalized for more than 10 (ten) years, who shall exercize the administration of the activies and establish the contents of the programmation.
Paragraph 2. The editorial responsibility and the activities of selection and direction of the broadcasted programmation are exclusive of native Brazilians or those naturalized for more than 10 (ten) years, in any medium of social communication.
Paragraph 3. The electronic media of social communication, regardless of the technology employed for rendering the service, shall observe the principles established by article 221, as determined by specific law, which shall also guarantee the priority of Brazilian professionals in the execution of national productions.
Paragraph 4. The law shall regulate the participation of foreigner capitals in the companies referred to by paragraph 1.
Paragraph 5. Alterations in the control of companies referred to by paragraph 1 shall be communicated to the National Congress.

Article 222 amended by CA 36, May 28th 2002. Before this CA, foreigner citizens and foreigner capital were forbidden from participating of communication companies. This CA allowed some participation, which attracted some capital, but maintained the restriction that only Brazilians should manage those companies.
Original text of this article:
"Newspapers and sound broadcasting companies, or sound and image broadcasting companies shall be owned exclusively by native Brazilians or those naturalized for more than ten years, who shall be responsible for their management and intellectual orientation.
Paragraph 1 - Legal entities shall not participate in the capital stock of journalistic and radio broadcasting companies, except for political parties and for corporations whose capital is exclusively and nominally owned by Brazilians.
Paragraph 2 - The participation referred to in the preceding paragraph may only take place through non-voting capital and shall not exceed thirty percent of the capital stock."

Article 223. The Executive Power has the authority to grant and renew concession, permission and authorization for radio broadcasting and sound and image broadcasting services with due regard to the principle of the complementary roles of private, public and state systems.
Paragraph 1 - The National Congress shall consider such proposition in the period of time set forth in article 64, paragraphs 2 and 4. counted from the date of receipt of the message.
Paragraph 2 - The non-renewal of the concession or permission shall depend on approval by at least two-fifths of the National Congress. in nominal voting.
Paragraph 3 - The granting or renewal shall only produce legal effects after approval by the National Congress, as set forth in the preceding paragraphs.
Paragraph 4 - Cancellation of a concession or permission prior to its expiring date shall depend on a court decision.
Paragraph 5 - The term for a concession or permission shall be ten years for radio stations and fifteen years for television channels.

Article 224. For the purposes of the provisions of this chapter. the National Congress shall institute, as an auxiliary agency, the Social Communication Council, in the manner prescribed by law.

CHAPTER VI - ENVIRONMENT

Article 225. All have the right to an ecologically balanced environment. which is an asset of common use and essential to a healthy quality of life, and both the Government and the community shall have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations.
Paragraph 1 - In order to ensure the effectiveness of this right, it is incumbent upon the Government to:
I - preserve and restore the essential ecological processes and provide for the ecological treatment of species and ecosystems;
II - preserve the diversity and integrity of the genetic patrimony of the country and to control entities engaged in research and manipulation of genetic material;
III - define, in all units of the Federation, territorial spaces and their components which are to receive special protection. any alterations and suppressions being allowed only by means of law, and any use which may harm the integrity of the attributes which justify their protection being forbidden;
IV - require, in the manner prescribed by law, for the installation of works and activities which may potentially cause significant degradation of the environment, a prior environmental impact study, which shall be made public;
V - control the production, sale and use of techniques, methods or substances which represent a risk to life, the quality of life and the environment;
VI - promote environment education in all school levels and public awareness of the need to preserve the environment;
VII - protect the fauna and the flora, with prohibition, in the manner prescribed by law, of all practices which represent a risk to their ecological function, cause the extinction of species or subject animals to cruelty.
Paragraph 2 - Those who exploit mineral resources shall be required to restore the degraded environment, in accordance with the technical solutions demanded by the competent public agency, as provided by law.
Paragraph 3 - Procedures and activities considered as harmful to the environment shall subject the infractors, be they individuals or legal entities, to penal and administrative sanctions, without prejudice to the obligation to repair the damages caused.
Paragraph 4 - The Brazilian Amazonian Forest, the Atlantic Forest, the Serra do Mar, the Pantanal Mato-Grossense and the coastal zone are part of the national patrimony, and they shall be used, as provided by law, under conditions which ensure the preservation of the environment, therein included the use of mineral resources.
Paragraph 5 - The unoccupied lands or lands seized by the states through discriminatory actions which are necessary to protect the natural ecosystems are inalienable.
Paragraph 6 - Power plants operated by nuclear reactor shall have their location defined in federal law and may not otherwise be installed.

CHAPTER VII - FAMILY, CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND THE ELDERLY

Article 226. The family, which is the foundation of society, shall enjoy special protection from the State.
Paragraph 1 - Marriage is civil and the marriage ceremony is free of charge.
Paragraph 2 - Religious marriage has civil effects, in accordance with the law.
Paragraph 3 - For purposes of protection by the State, the stable union between a man and a woman is recognized as a family entity, and the law shall facilitate the conversion of such entity into marriage.
Paragraph 4 - The community formed by either parent and their descendants is also considered as a family entity.
Paragraph 5 - The rights and the duties of marital society shall be exerci sed equally by the man and the woman.
Paragraph 6 - Civil marriage may be dissolved by divorce, after prior legal separation for more than one year in the cases set forth by law, or after two years of proven de facto separation.
Paragraph 7 - Based on the principles of human dignity and responsible parenthood, family planning is a free choice of the couple, it being within the competence of the State to provide educational and scientific resources for the exercise of this right, any coercion by official or private agencies being forbidden.
Paragraph 8 - The State shall ensure assistance to the family in the person of each of its members, creating mechanisms to suppress violence within the family.

Article 227. It is the duty of the family, the society and the State to ensure children and adolescents, with absolute priority, the right to life, health, nourishment, education, leisure, professional training, culture, dignity, respect, freedom and family and community life, as well as to guard them from all forms of negligence, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and oppression.
Paragraph 1 - The State shall promote full health assistance programmes for children and adolescents, the participation of non-governmental entities being allowed, and with due regard to the following precepts:
I - allocation of a percentage of public health care funds to mother and child assistance;
II - creation of preventive and specialized care programmes for the physically, sensorially or mentally handicapped, as well as programmes for the social integration of handicapped adolescents, by means of training for a profession and for community life, and by means of facilitating the access to communal facilities and services, by eliminating prejudices and architectonic obstacles.
Paragraph 2 - The law shall regulate construction standards for public sites and buildings and for the manufacturing of public transportation vehicles, in order to ensure adequate access to the handicapped.
Paragraph 3 - The right to special protection shall include the following aspects:
I - minimum age of fourteen years for admission to work, with due regard to the provisions of article 7, XXXIII;
II - guarantee of social security and labour rights;
III - guarantee of access to school for the adolescent worker;
IV - guarantee of full and formal knowledge of the determination of an offense, equal rights in the procedural relationships and technical defense by a qualified professional, in accordance with the provisions of the specific protection legislation;
V - compliance with the principles of brevity, exceptionality and respect to the peculiar conditions of the developing person, when applying any measures that restrain freedom;
VI - Government fostering, by means of legal assistance, tax incentives and subsidies, as provided by law, of the protection, through guardianship, of orphaned or abandoned children or adolescents;
VII - prevention and specialized assistance programmes for children and adolescents addicted to narcotics or related drugs.
Paragraph 4 - The law shall severely punish abuse, violence and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
Paragraph 5 - Adoption shall be assisted by the Government, as provided by law, which shall establish cases and conditions for adoption by foreigners.
Paragraph 6 - Children born inside or outside wedlock or adopted shall have the same rights and qualifications, any discriminatory designation of their filiation being forbidden.
Paragraph 7 - In attending to the rights of children and adolescents, the provisions of article 204 shall be taken into consideration.

Article 228. Minors under eighteen years of age may not be held criminally liable and shall be subject to the rules of the special legislation.

Article 229. It is the duty of parents to assist, raise and educate their under- age children and it is the duty of children of age to help and assist their parents in old-age, need or sickness.

Article 230. It is the duty of the family, society and the State, to assist the elderly, ensuring their participation in the community, defending their dignity and well-being and guaranteeing their right to life.
Paragraph 1 - Assistance programmes for the elderly shall be carried out preferably within their homes.
Paragraph 2 - Those over sixty-five years of age are guaranteed free urban public transportation.

CHAPTER VIII - INDIANS

Article 231. Indians shall have their social organization, customs, languages. creeds and traditions recognized, as well as their original rights to the lands they traditionally occupy, it being incumbent upon the Union to demarcate them, protect and ensure respect for all of their property.
Paragraph 1 -Lands traditionally occupied by Indians are those on which they live on a permanent basis, those used for their productive activities, those indispensable to the preservation of the environmental resources necessary for their well-being and for their physical and cultural reproduction, according to their uses, customs and traditions.
Paragraph 2 - The lands traditionally occupied by Indians are intended for their permanent possession and they shall have the exclusive usufruct of the riches of the soil, the rivers and the lakes existing therein.
Paragraph 3 - Hydric resources, including energetic potentials, may only be exploited, and mineral riches in Indian land may only be prospected and mined with the authorization of the National Congress, after hearing the communities involved, and the participation in the results of such mining shall be ensured to them, as set forth by law.
Paragraph 4 - The lands referred to in this article are inalienable and indisposable and the rights thereto are not subject to limitation.
Paragraph 5 - The removal of Indian groups from their lands is forbidden. except ad referendum of the National Congress, in case of a catastrophe or an epidemic which represents a risk to their population, or in the interest of the sovereignty of the country, after decision by the National Congress, it being guaranteed that, under any circumstances, the return shall be immediate as soon as the risk ceases.
Paragraph 6 - Acts with a view to occupation, domain and possession of the lands referred to in this article or to the exploitation of the natural riches of the soil, rivers and lakes existing therein, are null and void, producing no legal effects, except in case of relevant public interest of the Union, as provided by a supplementary law and such nullity and voidness shall not create a right to indemnity or to sue the Union, except in what concerns improvements derived from occupation in good faith, in the manner prescribed by law.
Paragraph 7 - The provisions of article 174, paragraphs 3 and 4, shall not apply to Indian lands.

Article 232. The Indians, their communities and organizations have standing under the law to sue to defend their rights and interests, the Public Prosecution intervening in all the procedural acts.