Debates on the restriction of access to personal information in Brazilian Legislation (1986-1991)

Abstract

The end of the military dictatorship (1964-1985), in Brazil, individuals and groups from civil society saw the possibility of accessing information and documents from public bodies. In early 1986, the Ministry of Justice was working on a package of laws aimed at removing the rubble of authoritarianism, an expression used at the time. Among the studies that were under development was the draft law on access to information and protection of privacy. Despite not being processed in Congress, the draft was widely discussed in the government and among society. It determined society's access to the archives of federal public agencies. The objective is to understand why the law on access to information was not passed through Congress in the mid-1980s, and this understanding will help to clarify the determinations of the Federal Constitution of 1988 and Law No. 9.158/1991. The investigation of an exploratory nature used qualitative, descriptive, bibliographic and documentary analysis. An analysis of journalistic materials published between 1984 and 1991 in periodicals of wide circulation was carried out, in addition to the analysis of documents from the National Information Service fund, guarded by the National Archives. The analysis made it possible to perceive that the Armed Forces and the so-called information community and civil society subjects exerted influences to prevent society from accessing documents in the SNI archive. They made it impossible for citizens to have access to documents containing information about them. Another relevant aspect refers to the persistent pressure exerted by subjects and groups in society for access to the SNI archives to be granted, and there is the presence of an opposing force that is also permanently present and sought to prevent access. Finally, there is the dissatisfaction of groups in society about the legislation that defined the deadlines for access to archives.