117
giornale di storia costituzionale / journal of constitutional history 40 / II 2020, pp. 117-134
ISSN 1593-0793 / ISBN 978-88-6056-673-7 / © eum 2020
Reception of norms of international law in the
Brazilian Constitutional Experience: Doctrinal
Conceptions about Executive Power overlays
Between the Empire and the Republic (1824-
1988)
arno dal ri jr., luciene dal ri
Introduction
Since the granting of its first Constitutional
Charter in 1824, the reception of the norms
of international order in Brazilian domestic
law has found its broad lines in the constitu-
tional texts. Such phenomenon is present-
ed as a common feature in the two constitu-
tions of the nineteenth century – 1824 and
1891 – as well as in the five from the twen-
tieth century – those of 1934, 1937, 1946,
1967 and 1988. On the one hand, there is a
continuous line connecting constitutional
texts, on the other hand, the absence of an
exhaustive and clear description of the way
in which the norms of international order
would be received are quite salient.
The existence of this gap has resulted,
throughout the Brazilian constitutional
experience, due to a growing presence of
political constraints that, in turn, have led
to the insertion and application of inter-
national postulates in the domestic legal
sphere. These constraints were material-
ised through frequent overlapping of Ex-
ecutive acts in relation to the other powers,
unbalancing the then desired separation of
constituted powers.
In this context, the aim of this article is
to analyse how the normative instruments
and doctrinal discourses at the internation-
al and constitutional levels were built in the
nearly two hundred years of history of the
national legal system. Moreover, emphasis-
ing the role to be played mainly by the Legis-
lative and Executive in the process of receiv-
ing international treaties and conventions,
underlining the most successful attempts by
the Executive to impose its supremacy, thus
undermining the role of the Legislative.
1. Approaches of 19
th
century Brazilian
doctrine to the constitutional regulation of
receiving treaties
The overlap between the Executive and the
Legislative in the process of receiving in-