The list of winners of the Cadeado de Chumbo 2025 Award is now online. Organized by the Forum for the Right of Access to Public Information, of which Transparência Brasil is a member, and by the Network for Transparency and Social Participation (RETPS), the award highlights – without any honour – public bodies that hinder or make impossible access to information in Brazil.

The award draws attention to recurring practices that go against the Access to Information Law (LAI) – even 13 years after it came into force – and the principles of public transparency. These include vague answers, unjustified denials, requests that circulate endlessly between different instances or are simply ignored.

The process involved public participation in the final vote, after a phase of sorting and analyzing the nominations received from all over the country. Below, we present the great champions of 2025.

Pass or pass
When the request for information is circulated between different bodies, without an effective response.

• São Sebastião City Hall (SP), automatic winner (only nominee)

Gone with the wind
When the body says that the information has disappeared, doesn’t exist or isn’t its responsibility

• Companhia do Metropolitano do Distrito Federal (Metrô-DF), winner with 57.1% of the votes
• Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Lero-lero
When the body responds with vague, generic information or information that doesn’t correspond to what was requested

• Municipal Health Department of São Paulo (SP), winner with 44% of the votes
• Osasco City Hall (SP)
• Mayor’s Office and Empresa de Informática e Informação do Município de Belo Horizonte S/A – Prodabel (MG)

Scratched record
When the body insists on the same justification, regardless of the content of the requests or appeals

• Pinhais City Council (PR), winner with 58.3% of the vote
• São Sebastião City Council (SP), two nominations

Don’t talk to us
When the body simply doesn’t respond to the request for information

• Salvador City Council (BA), winner with 39.3% of the vote
• Pedra Branca Town Hall (CE)
• Tabocas do Brejo Velho City Hall (BA)
• Goiânia City Council (GO)

Contortionists and jugglers
When the body uses absurd, incoherent or technically unfounded justifications to deny access to information

• São Sebastião City Hall (SP) (two nominations), winner with 27.4% of the vote
• Court of Auditors of the State of Mato Grosso
• Military Police of Minas Gerais
• Institutional Security Office of Rio de Janeiro
• Municipal Department of Urban Infrastructure and Works of São Paulo (SP)
• Municipal Sports and Leisure Department of São Paulo (SP)
• Osasco City Hall (SP)
• Federal University of Pelotas (RS)
• Ribeirão Preto Government Secretariat (SP)
• São Paulo City Council (SP)
• Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Honorable mention
For cases that, although they do not fit into the main categories, stand out negatively for practices that weaken social control and compromise the promotion of a culture of transparency in the use of the Access to Information Law.

• Rondônia State Government, winner with 51.2% of the vote
• Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI)

Access the spreadsheet with information on the nominationshere.

The Cadeado de Chumbo Award is a reminder that transparency should not be seen as a concession, but as a right guaranteed by law. In a country where opacity is still rife, recognizing – and criticizing – these practices is a way of strengthening democracy.

Originally published by the Right of Access Forum