The law of Brazil is based on statutes and, partly and more recently, a mechanism called súmulas vinculantes. It derives mainly from the civil law systems of European countries, particularly Portugal, the Napoleonic Code and the Germanic law. There are many codified statutes in force in Brazil. The current Federal Constitution, created on October 5, 1988, is the supreme law of the country. This Constitution has been amended many times. Other important federal law documents in the country include the Civil Code, the Penal Code, the Commercial Code, the National Tributary Code, the Consolidation of Labor Laws, the Customer Defense Code, the Civil Procedures Code and the Criminal Procedures Code. Division of powers Brazil's laws are run by the executive, judiciary and legislative branches. In these branches, the President of Brazil is in charge of the executive branch. The judiciary branch is made up of the Superior Court of Justice and the Supreme Federal Court. Brazil's legislative branch encompasses the National Congress of Brazil. Constitution and law Brazilian law is largely derived from Portuguese civil law and is related to the Roman-Germanic legal tradition. This means that the legal system is based on statutes, although a recent constitutional reform (Amendment to the Constitution 45, passed in 2004) has introduced a mechanism similar to the stare decisis, called súmula vinculante. Nevertheless, according to article 103-A of the Brazilian Constitution, only the Supreme Court is allowed to publish binding rules. Inferior judges and courts, and the public administration, are hence obliged to obey the interpretations of the Supreme Court. In more recent times, according to the judiciary structure framed in the Brazilian Constitution, judicial power is divided between the judicial branches of the states and the Federal judicial branch, and they have different jurisdictions. The prerogatives and duties of judges are the same, however, and the differences lie only in the competencies, structures and compositions of the Courts. Law and lawyers In 2007, there were 1,024 Law school programs in Brazil, with 197,664 law students. Law schools are present in each of the States of Brazil. In the United States the number of law schools were only 180. The U.S. State of Alaska does not have a law school. In 2010, the total of lawyers in Brazil were 621,885. The State of São Paulo had the largest number, 222,807 lawyers, one third of all working lawyers in the country. The State of