A short guide to Brazil’s Access to Information Law
November 2023.
Brazil’s Access to Information Law (Law 12,527 of 2011) requires public bodies to release non-classified data and information when citizens request them. Researchers, firms, and citizens can use it to obtain data for many purposes. Federal requests are filed on the Fala.BR website, which requires only a valid gov.br login. This guide lists practices to adopt and to avoid when filing a request with federal agencies. It does not cover state or municipal governments.
What to do
1. Be clear, precise, and brief
A request should not run for pages or list topics to be answered. Instead of asking for data on Foreign Ministry delegations, ask for the expenses of the delegations to Paris, New York, and so on. A request that demands too much information will likely be denied on the reasonable ground that compiling it is impracticable.
2. Know what you are requesting
Confirm that the data are actually measured and exist. Naming a column of a government dataset raises the chance of success compared with naming only a topic. When a dataset has never been released, its format cannot be known; in that case, read papers that have used similar data. The search tool for past requests and responses documents every request already answered under the law.
3. Ask for partial fulfillment
Add a sentence such as “If any requested item is unavailable or does not exist, I kindly ask that the request be fulfilled in part.” If three of four items can be answered, the fourth will not cause the whole request to be denied.
What to avoid
1. Long or confusing requests
The less direct a request, the lower the chance of a proper answer. Information on seven items may be better split into three requests, provided they do not overlap.
2. Duplicate requests to different agencies
Do not file the same request with, for example, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Finance at the same time. Wait for the first answer. A denial that gives reasons indicates that the agency holds the data, and the request can be reformulated to meet its requirements. A denial stating that the data do not exist supports a request to another agency. Agencies also forward requests they consider outside their remit, so choosing the wrong agency has limited cost.
Where to file
Budget execution is usually handled by the Ministry of Finance, international matters by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and environmental matters by the Ministry of the Environment.