In
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, the
Federal Constitution establishes eight law enforcement institutions - seven titulars and one auxiliar. The titular institutions are: the
Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
, the
Federal Highway Police, the
Federal Railroad Police
The Brazilian Federal Railroad Police (US English) or Federal Railway Police (British English) ( pt, Polícia Ferroviária Federal) is a police agency founded in 1852 which is responsible for patrols and security on federal railways in Brazil. A ...
, the Federal Penal Police, the
State Military Police and Fire Brigade, the
State Civil Police and the State Penal Police. Of these, the first four are affiliated to federal authorities and the latter three are subordinated to state governments. These public safety institutions are part of the Executive branch of either federal or state government. Apart from these eight institutions, there are others which affiliate to municipal authorities: the
Municipal Guards
Watchmen were organised groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, city, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement as well as traditionally perform the services of public safety, fire watch, crime preventi ...
. According to Minister
Alexandre de Moraes
Alexandre de Moraes (; born 13 December 1968 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian jurist, currently serving as president of the Superior Electoral Court and as a justice of the Supreme Federal Court.
Life
Married with three children, Alexandre de Mor ...
of the
Supreme Federal Court
The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for con ...
, "...the Municipal Guards are inserted in public safety as the auxiliary and related body of public security force..." Federal law 13,022 (in effect since August 8, 2014) gave them ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...
'' and ''
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...
'' police attributions.
According to the
Supreme Federal Tribunal
The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for consti ...
, Law enforcement forces with an obligation to maintain public safety by
Brazilian law
The law of Brazil is based on statutes and, partly and more recently, a mechanism called ''súmulas vinculantes''. It derives mainly from the civil law systems of European countries, particularly Portugal, the Napoleonic Code and the Germanic l ...
are the ones listed in article 144 of the Federal Constitution's
Caput
Latin words and phrases
{{Short pages monitor