This paper presents the unfinished result of a research work, still in progress, on how the administrative justice of the Portuguese empire was conducted in the kingdom and its domains in America at the end of the Ancien Régime. It focuses on the impact of the Lei Máxima (Law) of 18 August 1769, later called the Law of Good Reason, in Portuguese America, considering the validity of common law and customary practices during the period under study (1769-1808). The aforementioned law, enacted by the Secretary of Affairs of the Kingdom of King D. José I, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Count of Oeiras and Marquis of Pombal), instituted the mandatory nature of national law and subdued the customary practices operating throughout the empire.
ON THE EVE OF LIBERALISM, GOOD REASON AND PROOF OF COMMON LAW IN PORTUGUESE AMERICA (1769-1808)
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She is Associate Professor at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF, Brazil) and Permanent Professor at the Postgraduate Programme in Social History at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She has a Bachelor Degree in History and a Master Degree in History from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She holds a Ph.D. in History from UFF, with the thesis “Da justiça em nome d’El Rey: justiça, ouvidores e inconfidência em Minas Gerais (Sabará, 1720-1777)”, published by EdUERJ (2016) with FAPERJ funding. She published the compilations Justiças, Governo e Bem Comum na administração dos Impérios Ibéricos de Antigo Regime (séculos XV-XVIII) with Junia Furtado and Patrícia Silveira (2016); Estratégias de poder na América portuguesa: dimensões da cultura política séculos XVII-XIX), with Helidacy Corrêa (2010).
Resumo
O artigo apresenta o resultado parcial de uma pesquisa, ainda em andamento, que investiga as formas pelas quais a justiça administrativa do império português era exercida no reino e em seus domínios na América, em fins do Antigo Regime. Para tanto procurarei concentrar-me nos impactos da Lei Máxima de 18 de agosto de 1769, mais tarde intitulada Lei da Boa Razão, na América Portuguesa, considerando, mormente, a validade do direito comum e das práticas consuetudinárias durante o período estudado (1769 a 1808). A referida lei, promulgada pelo Secretário dos Negócios do Reino de Dom José I, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Conde de Oeiras e Marquês de Pombal), instituía a obrigatoriedade do direito pátrio e subjugava as práticas costumeiras então operantes por todo império.
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Como citar este artigo
Atallah, Cláudia (2021). On the eve of Liberalism, Good Reason and proof of common law in Portuguese America (1769-1808). Janus.net, e-journal of international relations. Thematic dossier 200 years after the Revolution (1820-2020), December 2021. Consulted [online] in date of the last visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT0121.2
Article received on 12 April, 2021 and accepted for publication on 21 September, 2021
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