Between military and criminal justice: soldiers and <em>‘wrongdoers”</em>

Abstract

The justice system of the Cisplatine Province was marked by the complexities of an administration to have had its very organization (especially in the higher reaches) modified under Portuguese rule. Such shifts also affected trials regulated by specific provisions and ordinances particularly targeting the responsibilities of members of the army. Such an advantageous condition for Lusitanic soldiers was also enhanced by the enforcement of certain jurisdictions, particularly that of military jurisdiction. Such jurisdiction traditionally served to restrict the civil courts’ powers over soldiers, even in cases of ‘common” crimes. The present article seeks to analyze the tensions between the military and criminal justice systems in the Cisplatine Province, occupied first by the Portuguese army and later by the Brazilian army. It also analyzes how military jurisdiction was often harnessed to limit civil jurisdiction, ensuring a more benign treatment that could even culminate in the impunity of the soldiers involved. A study of the criminal justice system’s records reveals the complexities of a process that very often affected those under investigation by means of delayed trials, incurring significant infringements on personal liberty and economic hardship for their families. The period under study has been extended to 1830, thus moving beyond that of the Luso-Brazilian administration. This allows us not only to analyze more prolonged causes, but also to deepen our knowledge on the ruptures and continuities in the administration of justice.