Torments Through Time: Pardon in Brazilian Military Penal Law between Early Modern Rules and Liberal Justice (Council of State, 1842-1889)
Military criminal law in 19th century Brazil was governed mostly by the Articles of War (1763), which retained many characteristics from Early Modern punitive practices. Did pardon of soldier offenders too retained its older features, completing the logic of Ancien Régime punishment, based on the du...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=8084187 |
| Source: | Revista Brasileira de Direito Processual Penal, ISSN 2525-510X, Vol. 7, Nº. 2, 2021, pags. 1057-1096 |
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| Summary: |
Military criminal law in 19th century Brazil was governed mostly by the Articles of War (1763), which retained many characteristics from Early Modern punitive practices. Did pardon of soldier offenders too retained its older features, completing the logic of Ancien Régime punishment, based on the duality fear/love? To answer this, I analyzed the opinions of the Council of State, Section of Navy and War on pardon petitions. Contextualizing these data with criminal statistics from the armed forces, we can see that the death penalty was lavishly imposed, but capital sentences tended to be reduced going up in the judicial structure. This, coupled with the institutional design favoring a quick trial in military procedural law shows that the system was designed to instill fear, especially during the Paraguayan War. Pardons were frequently given to counter the harshness of the Articles of War, just like in the Ancien Régime, but new functions were added, like the correction of procedural errors. I concluded that pardon retained much of its older logic, yet military law was not “transitional”, but a natural complement to the violent way of recruitment pursued by the armed forces. |
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