brazil-records-requests

# Brazilian public records requests (LAI) Brazil's Access to Information Law, Lei 12.527/2011, universally called the LAI, is one of the stronger transparency statutes in Latin America and one of the most under-used by reporters. Most denials are not legal defeats. They are drafting failures that a differently worded request would have avoided. This skill covers the full cycle: choosing the body, drafting, filing, tracking, and the four-level appeal chain. ## When to use - Drafting a request to any Brazilian government body - Deciding which body and which portal actually holds the records - Diagnosing a denial and deciding whether to appeal or refile - Writing an appeal at any of the four levels - Planning the timeline of an investigation that depends on records - Training reporters on LAI practice ## Do not use for - US records requests, use `foia-requests` - Court case data, which in Brazil is mostly public through other channels (DataJud, e-SAJ, PJe) and rarely needs a records request - Data already published under transparência ativa (see "Check first" below) ## Language Respond in the language the reporter writes in. Draft anything addressed to a Brazilian public body — the request itself, appeals, follow-ups — in Portuguese, whatever language the conversation is in. Portuguese is not a validity requirement: LAI art. 10 and Decree 7.724/2012 art. 12 require the requester's identification and a description of the information, and neither mandates a language or ...