Knowra Institutional Act Number Five Institutional Act Number Five A decree issued by Brazil’s military regime on December 13, 1968, that suspended constitutional protections, enabled Congress to be closed, and widened state powers of repression.
Habeas corpus : A legal procedure requiring authorities to justify a person’s detention before a court. The decree suspended habeas corpus for political crimes, weakening a key safeguard against arbitrary detention.
1964 Brazilian coup d'état : The military-led overthrow of Brazilian president João Goulart on March 31 and April 1, 1964. The coup established the regime whose consolidation culminated in the decree.
Brazilian military dictatorship (1964–1985) : The period of military-led authoritarian government in Brazil from the 1964 coup to the return of civilian rule in 1985. The decree’s powers shaped the dictatorship’s most repressive years.
Institutional Act Number One : The first of Brazil’s military regime’s institutional acts, issued in April 1964 to authorize political purges and indirect presidential selection. It established extraordinary powers that Number Five expanded far more severely.
Political repression in Brazil : State actions in Brazil that intimidated, censored, detained, tortured, or killed political opponents. The decree supplied legal powers used to intensify repression under the military regime.
Costa e Silva : Brazilian military officer and president from 1967 to 1969. As president, he signed the decree amid mounting opposition and political conflict.
Brazilian Congress closure of 1968 : The closure of Brazil’s National Congress by President Costa e Silva under Institutional Act Number Five in December 1968. The decree’s authority to close the legislature was used immediately after its issuance.
Institutional Act Number Two : A 1965 decree that abolished existing political parties and established indirect presidential elections in Brazil. It had already altered Brazil’s political system, but did not impose Number Five’s full suspension of constitutional safeguards.
Brazilian Congress : Brazil’s bicameral national legislature, comprising the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. The decree authorized the president to close Congress and state legislatures.
Márcio Moreira Alves : Brazilian congressman whose 1968 speech criticizing the military became a pretext for a political crisis. The regime invoked Congress’s refusal to prosecute him as justification for issuing the decree.
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