Order of precedence in Brazil

The order of precedence in Brazil is a symbolic hierarchy of officials used to direct protocol. It is regulated by Presidential Decree number 70.274 of March 9, 1972, signed by former President Emilio Medici. The following order applies to ceremonies hosted by the federal government.

This formal order of precedence was established during the military dictatorship, and hasn't been amended after the country's return to democracy in the 1980s. However, changes have informally been introduced to it, so that the de jure precedence no longer corresponds to the de facto arrangements that prevail in current practice. For instance, the head of the military cabinet, the head of the intelligence service and general officers of the Armed Forces no longer enjoy a precedence as high as is assigned to them by the 1972 Decree.

Other modifications of the order of precedence arise from the fact that certain officers, such as the Chief of Staff to the President, the Solicitor-General, etc., have been granted by law the status of Ministers of State, and so the holders of such officers now have a higher rank than they would have otherwise.

The order of precedence is only used to indicate ceremonial protocol; it does not reflect the co-equal status of the branches of government under the Constitution, and is not an actual hierarchy. The ranking of Brazilian officers in the Order of Precedence also does not reflect the place of those officers in the presidential line of succession.

The placement of Roman Catholic cardinals in the order of precedence in spite of the separation of church and state in force in Brazil is justified on the grounds that they are princes of a foreign power (the Holy See) residing in Brazil and/or holding Brazilian nationality. However cardinals are no longer ascribed as high a precedence as the 1972 Decree ascribes to them, being in current practice outranked for instance by the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, of the Federal Senate, of the Federal Supreme Court and by the attorney general of the Republic, as well as by former presidents of the Republic and by the Ministers of State.

Order of precedence according to the Decree

1. The President of the Republic (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva)
2. The Vice President of the Republic (Geraldo Alckmin)
3. Brazilian cardinals (by seniority of assuming title)
4. Odilo Pedro Scherer (Archbishop of São Paulo)
5. Raymundo Damasceno Assis (Archbishop Emeritus of Aparecida)
6. João Braz de Aviz (Prefect emeritus of Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Vatican City)
7. Orani João Tempesta (Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro)
8. Sérgio da Rocha (Archbishop of Salvador)
9. Leonardo Ulrich Steiner (Archbishop of Manaus)
10. Paulo Cezar Costa (Archbishop of Brasília)
11. Jaime Spengler (Archbishop of Porto Alegre)
12. Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of foreign diplomatic mission to Brazil
13. The President of the Federal Senate and of the National Congress (Davi Alcolumbre)
14. The President of the Chamber of Deputies (Hugo Motta)
15. The President of the Supreme Federal Court (Edson Fachin)
16. Former Presidents of Brazil (by seniority of assuming office, as long as they don't have other public office)
17. José Sarney (21 April 1985 – 15 March 1990)
18. Fernando Collor de Mello (15 March 1990 – 29 December 1992)
19. Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1 January 1995 – 31 December 2002)
20. Dilma Rousseff (1 January 2011 – 31 August 2016)
21. Michel Temer (31 August 2016 – 31 December 2018)
22. Jair Bolsonaro (1 January 2019 – 31 December 2022)
23. Former Vice Presidents of Brazil (by seniority of assuming office, as long as they don't have other public office)
24. Hamilton Mourão (1 January 2019 – 31 December 2022)
25. Ministers of State (by order of creation)
26. Minister of Justice and Public Security (Ricardo Lewandowski)
27. Minister of Foreign Affairs (Mauro Vieira)
28. Minister of Finance (Fernando Haddad)
29. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (Carlos Fávaro)
30. Minister of Education (Camilo Santana)
31. Minister of Labour and Employment (Luiz Marinho)
32. Minister of Health (Nísia Trindade)
33. Minister of Mines and Energy (Alexandre Silveira)
34. Minister of Communications (Frederico Siqueira)
35. Minister of Environment and Climate Change (Marina Silva)
36. Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (Luciana Santos)
37. Minister of Human Rights and the Citizenship (Macaé Evaristo)
38. Minister of Defence (José Múcio)
39. Minister of Tourism (Celso Sabino)
40. Minister of Integration and the Regional Development (Waldez Góes)
41. Minister of Indigenous People (Sônia Guajajara)
42. Minister of Racial Equality (Anielle Franco)
43. Minister of Women (Cida Gonçalves)
44. Minister of Transport (Renan Filho)
45. Minister of Ports and Airports (Sílvio Costa Filho)
46. Minister of Culture (Margareth Menezes)
47. Minister of Sports (André Fufuca)
48. Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (Wellington Dias)
49. Minister of Fishing and Aquaculture (André de Paula)
50. Minister of Management and the Innovation in Public Services (Esther Dweck)
51. Minister of Social Security (Carlos Lupi)
52. Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (Paulo Teixeira)
53. Minister of Cities (Jader Barbalho Filho)
54. Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (Geraldo Alckmin)
55. Minister of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise and Small Business (Márcio França)
56. The Head of the Institutional Security Bureau (Marcos Antonio Amaro dos Santos)
57. The Chief of Staff (Rui Costa)
58. The Director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Luiz Fernando Corrêa)
59. The Commanders of the Armed Forces (by creation of branch)
60. Commander of the Brazilian Navy (Adm. Marcos Sampaio Olsen)
61. Commander of the Brazilian Army (Gen. Tomás Ribeiro Paiva)
62. Commander of the Brazilian Air Force (Lt. Brig. Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno)
63. Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces (Adm. Renato Rodrigues de Aguiar Freire)
64. Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence (Luiz Henrique Pochyly da Costa)
65. The Attorney General of the Union (Jorge Messias)
66. Foreign envoys
67. The President of the Superior Electoral Court (Cármen Lúcia)
68. Justices of the Supreme Federal Court
69. Gilmar Mendes
70. Cármen Lúcia
71. Dias Toffoli
72. Luiz Fux
73. Alexandre de Moraes
74. Nunes Marques
75. André Mendonça
76. Cristiano Zanin
77. Flávio Dino
78. Prosecutor General of the Republic (Paulo Gonet Branco)
79. Governors of State (by creation date)
80. Governor of Bahia (Jerônimo Rodrigues)
81. Governor of Rio de Janeiro (Cláudio Castro)
82. Governor of Maranhão (Carlos Brandão)
83. Governor of Pará (Helder Barbalho)
84. Governor of Pernambuco (Raquel Lyra)
85. Governor of Minas Gerais (Romeu Zema)
86. Governor of São Paulo (Tarcísio de Freitas)
87. Governor of Goiás (Ronaldo Caiado)
88. Governor of Mato Grosso (Mauro Mendes)
89. Governor of Rio Grande do Sul (Eduardo Leite)
90. Governor of Ceará (Elmano de Freitas)
91. Governor of Paraíba (João Azevedo)
92. Governor of Espírito Santo (Renato Casagrande)
93. Governor of Piauí (Rafael Fonteles)
94. Governor of Rio Grande do Norte (Fátima Bezerra)
95. Governor of Santa Catarina (Jorginho Mello)
96. Governor of Alagoas (Paulo Dantas)
97. Governor of Sergipe (Fábio Mitidieri)
98. Governor of Amazonas (Wilson Lima)
99. Governor of Paraná (Ratinho Júnior)
100. Governor of Acre (Gladson Cameli)
101. Governor of Mato Grosso do Sul (Eduardo Riedel)
102. Governor of Rondônia (Marcos Rocha)
103. Governor of Tocantins (Wanderlei Barbosa)
104. Governor of Roraima (Antonio Denarium)
105. Governor of Amapá (Clécio Luís)
106. The Governor of the Federal District (Ibaneis Rocha)
107. Senators
108. Federal Deputies
109. Admirals of the Brazilian Navy
110. Marshals of the Brazilian Army
111. Marshals of the air of the Brazilian Air Force
112. Admirals of the fleet of the Brazilian Navy
113. Generals of the Brazilian Army
114. Ambassadors
115. Lt. Brigadiers of the Brazilian Air Force
116. The President of the Superior Court of Justice (Herman Benjamin)
117. The President of the Superior Military Court (Maria Elizabeth Rocha)
118. The President of the Federal Court of Accounts (Vital do Rêgo Filho)
119. The President of the Superior Labour Court (Aloysio Corrêa da Veiga)
120. Justices of the Superior Electoral Court
121. Chargé d'affaires of foreign countries
122. Justices of the Superior Justice Court
123. Justices of the Superior Military Court
124. Justices of the Superior Labour Court
125. Vice admirals of the Brazilian Navy
126. Divisional generals of the Brazilian Army
127. Major-brigadiers of the Brazilian Air Force
128. Catholic Archbishops
129. The President of the Justice Court of the Federal District and Territories (José Cruz Macedo)
130. Secretaries-General of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
131. Prosecutors of the Republic in the States of the Union
132. Prosecutors-General in the States of the Union
133. Directors of the Ministries of State
134. Deans of Federal Universities
135. The Director General of the Federal Police of Brazil (Andrei Rodrigues)
136. The President of the Central Bank of Brazil (Gabriel Galípolo)
137. The Chairwoman of the Banco do Brasil (Tarciana Medeiros)
138. The President of the Brazilian Development Bank (Aloizio Mercadante)
139. The Secretary of the Federal Revenue Service (Robinson Sakiyama)
140. Chairperson of Federal Savings Bank (Carlos Vieira)
141. Mayors of cities with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants
142. Counter admirals of the Brazilian Navy
143. Brigadier-Generals of the Brazilian Army
144. Brigadiers of the Brazilian Air Force
145. Vice Governors of the States of the Union
146. Presidents of the Legislative Assemblies of the States of the Union
147. Presidents of the Justice Courts of the States of the Union
148. Chair of the Permanent Committee of the Book of the Merit
149. Chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Merval Pereira)
150. Chair of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (Luiz Davidovich)
151. Chair of the Brazilian Association of Press (Paulo Jerônimo)
152. Deans of State and Private Universities
153. State Secretaries
154. Catholic Bishops
155. Presidents of Employers' and Workers' Confederations in national scale
156. Directors of Central Bank of Brazil
157. Directors of Bank of Brazil
158. Directors of Brazilian Development Bank
159. Captains of sea and war of the Brazilian Navy
160. Colonels of the Brazilian Army
161. Colonels of the Brazilian Air Force
162. State Deputies
163. Commanders of the Military Polices of the States of the Union
164. Desembargadores of the Justice Courts of the States of the Union
165. Foreign consuls
166. Federal Judges
167. Catholic Monsignors
168. Frigate captains of the Brazilian Navy
169. Lt. Colonels of the Brazilian Army
170. Lt. Colonels of the Brazilian Air Force
171. Presidents of Employers' and Workers' Confederations in regional or state scale
172. Presidents of Municipal Chambers in cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants
173. Law Judges
174. Public Prosecutors
175. Department Heads of Federal Universities
176. Mayors of cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
177. Corvette captains of the Brazilian Navy
178. Majors of the Brazilian Army
179. Majors of the Brazilian Air Force
180. Department Heads of State and Private Universities
181. Presidents of Municipal Chambers of cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
182. Universities professors
183. Other Mayors
184. Catholic Canons
185. Lt. Captains of the Brazilian Navy
186. Captains of the Brazilian Army
187. Captains of the Brazilian Air Force
188. Presidents of other Municipal Chambers
189. Catholic Priests
190. Principals of High Schools
191. Aldermen

Notes

References