On the eve of liberalism, good reason and proof of common law in portuguese america (1769-1808)

Abstract

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.