Administração e institucionalização da justiça no Rio Grande do Norte Imperial (1835-1889)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the formation of the judicial apparatus in the province of Rio Grande do Norte and its institutionalization during the imperial period. To this end, the discussion focuses on examining the construction of the county network in the province between 1835 and 1889. The primary sources for this investigation include the speeches and reports of the provincial presidents, as well as the provincial legislation enacted during the specified period. Based on the data and information contained in these documents, the study aims to examine the pace and development of the judicial network in Rio Grande do Norte, as well as the key variables that have influenced this process. These sources — produced by agents of the imperial state bureaucracy, namely the provincial presidents and deputies — were selected for their representation of an official state narrative. They offer insights into how spaces of justice were conceived and structured within the broader administrative framework of the Empire. By examining these historical documents, this research aims to understand how an institutionalized discourse of order contributed to the establishment and consolidation of the judicial territorial structure in imperial Rio Grande do Norte.