Subjects -> LAW (Total: 1397 journals)
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    - FAMILY AND MATRIMONIAL LAW (23 journals)
    - INTERNATIONAL LAW (161 journals)
    - JUDICIAL SYSTEMS (23 journals)
    - LAW (843 journals)
    - LAW: GENERAL (11 journals)

LAW (843 journals)                  1 2 3 4 5 | Last

Showing 1 - 200 of 354 Journals sorted alphabetically
ABA Journal Magazine     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 17)
Acta Judicial     Open Access   (Followers: 3)
Acta Juridica     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 6)
Acta Politica     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 19)
Acta Universitatis Danubius. Juridica     Open Access  
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis : Folia Iuridica     Open Access  
Actualidad Jurídica Ambiental     Open Access  
Adelaide Law Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 23)
Administrative Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 40)
Aegean Review of the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 8)
African Journal of Legal Studies     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 9)
African Journal on Conflict Resolution     Open Access   (Followers: 28)
Ahkam : Jurnal Hukum Islam     Open Access  
Ahkam : Jurnal Ilmu Syariah     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Air and Space Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 22)
Akron Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
Al 'Adalah : Jurnal Hukum Islam     Open Access  
AL Rafidain law journal     Open Access  
Al-Ahkam     Open Access  
Al-Istinbath : Jurnal Hukum Islam     Open Access  
Alaska Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 11)
Alberta Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 16)
Alternative Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 13)
Alternatives : Global, Local, Political     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 10)
Amazon's Research and Environmental Law     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
American Journal of Comparative Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 64)
American Journal of Jurisprudence     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 23)
American Journal of Law & Medicine     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 11)
American Journal of Legal History     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 14)
American Journal of Trial Advocacy     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 7)
American University Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 15)
American University National Security Law Brief     Open Access   (Followers: 8)
Amicus Curiae     Open Access   (Followers: 5)
Anales : Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata     Open Access  
Anales de la Cátedra Francisco Suárez     Open Access  
Annales Canonici     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Annales de droit     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul     Open Access  
Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, sectio G (Ius)     Open Access  
Annals of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade - Belgrade Law Review     Open Access  
Anuario da Facultade de Dereito da Universidade da Coruña     Open Access  
Anuario de la Facultad de Derecho : Universidad de Extremadura (AFDUE)     Open Access  
Anuario de Psicología Jurídica     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
ANZSLA Commentator, The     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 3)
Appeal : Review of Current Law and Law Reform     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Arbeidsrett     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 2)
Arbitration Law Monthly     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 6)
Arbitration Law Reports and Review     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 13)
Arctic Review on Law and Politics     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Argumenta Journal Law     Open Access  
Arizona Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 8)
Arizona State Law Journal     Free   (Followers: 3)
Arkansas Law Review     Free   (Followers: 4)
Ars Aequi Maandblad     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 5)
Art + Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 12)
Artificial Intelligence and Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 70)
ASAS : Jurnal Hukum dan Ekonomi Islam     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Asia Pacific Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 3)
Asia-Pacific Journal of Ocean Law and Policy     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 3)
Asian American Law Journal     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Asian Journal of Law and Society     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 10)
Asian Journal of Legal Education     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 3)
Asian Pacific American Law Journal     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 3)
Asy-Syir'ah : Jurnal Ilmu Syari'ah dan Hukum     Open Access  
Australasian Law Management Journal     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 4)
Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 7)
Australian Feminist Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 14)
Australian Indigenous Law Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 21)
Australian Journal of Legal History     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 16)
Australian Year Book of International Law Online     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 1)
Ballot     Open Access  
Baltic Journal of Law & Politics     Open Access   (Followers: 5)
Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 8)
Behavioral Sciences & the Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 30)
Beijing Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law     Open Access   (Followers: 6)
Berkeley Technology Law Journal     Free   (Followers: 20)
BestuuR     Open Access  
Bioderecho.es     Open Access  
Bioethics Research Notes     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 16)
Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo     Open Access  
Bond Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 18)
Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice     Open Access   (Followers: 11)
Boston College Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 15)
Boston University Law Review     Free   (Followers: 11)
Bratislava Law Review     Open Access  
BRICS Law Journal     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law     Open Access   (Followers: 6)
Brill Research Perspectives in Comparative Discrimination Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 5)
Brill Research Perspectives in International Investment Law and Arbitration     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 5)
British Journal of American Legal Studies     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Brooklyn Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
Bulletin of Medieval Canon Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 4)
Bulletin of Yaroslav Mudryi NLU : Series : Philosophy, philosophy of law, political science, sociology     Open Access  
Business and Human Rights Journal     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 6)
C@hiers du CRHIDI     Open Access  
Cadernos de Dereito Actual     Open Access  
Cahiers de la Recherche sur les Droits Fondamentaux     Open Access  
Cahiers Droit, Sciences & Technologies     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
California Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 21)
California Western Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 3)
Cambridge Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 173)
Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 5)
Campus Legal Advisor     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 2)
Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 13)
Canadian Journal of Law and Society     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 26)
Canadian Journal of Law and Technology     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Case Western Reserve Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Časopis pro právní vědu a praxi     Open Access  
Catalyst : A Social Justice Forum     Open Access   (Followers: 10)
Católica Law Review     Open Access  
Chicana/o-Latina/o Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
China : An International Journal     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 21)
China Law and Society Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 2)
China-EU Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 6)
Chinese Journal of Comparative Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 8)
Chinese Journal of Environmental Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 1)
Chinese Law & Government     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 9)
Chulalongkorn Law Journal     Open Access  
Cleveland State Law Review     Free   (Followers: 2)
Clínica Jurídica per la Justícia Social : Informes     Open Access  
College Athletics and The Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 1)
Colombia Forense     Open Access  
Columbia Journal of Environmental Law     Open Access   (Followers: 14)
Columbia Journal of Gender and Law     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 16)
Columbia Journal of Race and Law     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Columbia Journal of Tax Law     Open Access  
Columbia Law Review (Sidebar)     Open Access   (Followers: 21)
Commercial Law Quarterly: The Journal of the Commercial Law Association of Australia     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 4)
Comparative Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 48)
Comparative Legal History     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 11)
Comparative Legilinguistics     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Con-texto     Open Access  
Conflict Resolution Quarterly     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 36)
Conflict Trends     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 12)
Cornell Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 14)
Corporate Law & Governance Review     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 5)
Critical Analysis of Law : An International & Interdisciplinary Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 8)
Cuadernos de Historia del Derecho     Open Access   (Followers: 6)
Cuestiones Juridicas     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Current Legal Problems     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 28)
Danube     Open Access   (Followers: 3)
De Europa     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
De Jure     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Deakin Law Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 14)
Debater a Europa     Open Access  
Democrazia e diritto     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 2)
Denning Law Journal     Open Access   (Followers: 5)
DePaul Journal of Women, Gender and the Law     Open Access   (Followers: 6)
DePaul Law Review     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
Derecho Animal. Forum of Animal Law Studies     Open Access   (Followers: 5)
Derecho PUCP     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Derecho y Ciencias Sociales     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Derechos en Acción     Open Access  
Dereito : Revista Xurídica da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela     Full-text available via subscription  
Deusto Journal of Human Rights     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
DiH : Jurnal Ilmu Hukum     Open Access  
Dikaion     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Dike     Open Access  
Dikê : Revista de Investigación en Derecho, Criminología y Consultoría Jurídica     Open Access  
Diké : Revista Jurídica     Open Access  
Direito e Desenvolvimento     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Direito.UnB : Revista de Direito da Universidade de Brasília     Open Access  
Dixi     Open Access  
DLR Online     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Doxa : Cuadernos de Filosofía del Derecho     Open Access  
Droit et Cultures     Open Access   (Followers: 7)
Droit, Déontologie & Soin     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 1)
Drug Science, Policy and Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 4)
Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum     Open Access   (Followers: 8)
Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy     Open Access   (Followers: 21)
Duke Law & Technology Review     Open Access   (Followers: 13)
Duke Law Journal     Open Access   (Followers: 27)
e-Pública : Revista Eletrónica de Direito Público     Open Access  
Economics and Law     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
Edinburgh Law Review     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 20)
Education and the Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 17)
Election Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 14)
Environmental Justice     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 14)
Environmental Law Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 26)
Environmental Policy and Law     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 18)
ERA-Forum     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 5)
Erasmus Law Review     Open Access  
Erdélyi Jogélet     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
Espaço Jurídico : Journal of Law     Open Access   (Followers: 1)
Estudios de Derecho     Open Access  
Ethnopolitics     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 3)
Ethos: Official Publication of the Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 5)
EU Agrarian Law     Open Access   (Followers: 4)
European Convention on Human Rights Law Review     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 7)
European Energy and Environmental Law Review     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 16)
European Investment Law and Arbitration Review Online     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 2)
European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 13)
European Journal of Law and Technology     Open Access   (Followers: 21)
European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies     Open Access   (Followers: 2)
European Law Journal     Hybrid Journal   (Followers: 190)
European Public Law     Full-text available via subscription   (Followers: 46)

        1 2 3 4 5 | Last

Similar Journals
Journal Cover
British Journal of American Legal Studies
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.139
Number of Followers: 1  

  This is an Open Access Journal Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2049-4092 - ISSN (Online) 2719-5864
Published by Sciendo Homepage  [389 journals]
  • The Confederate Admiralty Court at Key West

    • Abstract: In 1861, the Confederate States of America authorized the establishment of a “Court of Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction” at Key West. Although a judge was appointed, the court never sat because the island remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War. After first describing the court's creation and staffing, this article highlights the various procedural and practical problems the court would have faced if it had been able to operate.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • A Key West “jack-of-all-trades”: The Strange Life, and Peculiar Death,
           of Dr. Daniel W. Whitehurst

    • Abstract: In 1845, lawyer-turned-physician Daniel W. Whitehurst, originally from Virginia, moved to Key West. By the time of his death in 1872, Whitehurst had served as the city's mayor, state senator, and captain of its rebel guard. Nevertheless, Whitehurst now is an unknown figure. Buried with him is his cause of death, which may have been suicide.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Editor's Note

    • PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • “Keeping Tabs”: Spanish Consular Activities in Key West,
           1829–70

    • Abstract: This essay describes the work of Spain's consuls in Key West between 1829 and 1870. Although Spain sold Florida to the United States in 1821, it retained a keen interest in Key West (primarily due to the city's proximity to Cuba). As their country's “eyes and ears,” Spain's consuls were expected to keep their superiors in Madrid briefed on the latest developments, a task they pursued with vigor.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Judge William Marvin and the Law of Salvage

    • Abstract: This essay explores the salvage decisions rendered by William Marvin during his time as a judge in Key West (1839–45; 1847–63). It also discusses his celebrated treatise on salvage law (1858), which cemented his reputation as one of America's leading authorities on maritime law. Lastly, it recounts how Marvin superintended the city's notorious wrecking industry.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Great Britain and the Confederacy

    • Abstract: This essay describes the efforts of the Confederate States of America to convince Great Britain to support its secession from the United States. Although the South's leaders were confident that Britain's need for cotton would lead it to become an ally, numerous factors—including the British public's aversion to slavery—contributed to the country remaining neutral.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Island Musings: a Selective Bibliography of Early Key West

    • Abstract: This bibliography identifies and describes 75 works that focus on Key West during its first 50 years (1821–71) as a U.S. possession. General, legal, and popular culture materials are included.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Mr. Marvin Goes to Key West

    • Abstract: This essay provides a sketch of William Marvin's first decade in Key West (1835–45). In this period, Marvin, originally from New York, served as the territory's U.S. district attorney (1835–39) and its second territorial judge (1839–45). It was during this time that Marvin became acquainted with the city's wrecking industry and began to develop his interest in salvage law.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • “Mad Passions of the Hour”: Key West and the Civil War

    • Abstract: This review discusses two recent books that focus on Key West in the Civil War. Employing vastly different approaches, both works will have their share of admirers and detractors. Given the complexity of Key West's role in the Civil War, however, much fertile ground remains for future researchers.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • The Schooner Enterprise: a Forgotten Key West Murder Case

    • Abstract: In 1859, Key West found itself transfixed by a sensational criminal trial. Styled United States v. Carcer, Eloy, and Davis, and presided over by William Marvin, the island's legendary federal judge, the case involved a mutiny-murder aboard the slave ship Enterprise. Although famous in its day, the tale has been all but forgotten due to the Great Key West Fire of 1886, which destroyed nearly every record of the affair.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • The Confederate Law of Prize

    • Abstract: This essay describes the prize law of the Confederate States of America. Due to the Union's blockade of the South's coastline, Confederate judges heard very few prize cases. But when they did, they closely hewed to the prize law of the United States.
      PubDate: Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • What Court (if any) Decided —A Correction for Justice Sotomayor (and
           others)

    • PubDate: Wed, 02 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • The Great Synthesizer: Natural Rights, the Law of Nations, and the Moral
           Sense in the Philosophical and Constitutional Thought of James Wilson

    • Abstract: This article argues that the key to understanding James Wilson, one of the leading architects of the Constitution and the first Supreme Court Justice to be sworn in, and yet arguably the most neglected and misunderstood figure from the founding generation, is as a “great synthesizer” of seemingly disparate philosophical and constitutional commitments. Drawing upon the natural rights tradition of early classical liberalism as envisioned by John Locke, Wilson insisted that the new federal government be as democratic and broadly reflective of “We the People” as possible. Drawing upon the law of nations tradition as articulated particularly by Cicero, he became one of the nation's leading proponents of a strong, centralized federal government in order to form “a more perfect union.” And inspired by the concept of the moral sense and the innate sociality of the human person as discussed in the Scottish Enlightenment by Thomas Reid and Francis Hutcheson, he made clear that the “blessings of liberty” were contingent upon an active and engaged citizenry on the national level. By understanding this overlooked, synthetic quality of Wilson's thought, we may better understand, in all its richness and complexity, the unique role Wilson played in America's creation story, gain a new perspective on the original Constitution itself, its achievements and flaws, and reconstruct a compelling constitutional theory that cut across the political alignment of the day but perhaps better anticipated subsequent constitutional development than any of the prevailing positions in 1787.
      PubDate: Sun, 23 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • A Dark Shadow: The Intensification and Expansion of Lethal Injection Drug
           Secrecy

    • Abstract: Over the last decade, many death penalty states in the United States have enacted secrecy laws shielding the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers and executioners. Death penalty defense lawyers, legislators, and scholars have examined the constitutionality and efficacy of these laws. However, little attention has been paid to the history of death penalty secrecy and its relationship to existing secrecy statutes. This article analyzes that history and relationship. It describes a surprising pattern of openness and transparency about the identities of executioners and others involved in America's capital punishment process. Current lethal injection secrecy laws break with that pattern and cast a virtually unprecedented shadow over the execution process. This article concludes by assessing the consequences of the recent intensification and expansion of execution secrecy.
      PubDate: Sat, 29 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • King Mob and Contempt of Congress

    • Abstract: The aftershocks of the riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, continue to ripple through the American public square. The United States Department of Justice brought over 750 criminal charges against the assailants. The United States House of Representatives appointed a Select Committee to investigate the riot. And the public continues to discuss the meaning of January 6 as these criminal prosecutions continue and the House's investigation concludes. Although this is the first time in American history that a mob actually breached the Capitol, riots and insurrections attempting to overawe parliamentary bodies on their own grounds are well precedented in the Anglo-American legal tradition.The purpose of this article is to provide historical context for affrays like the Trump Riot of January 6 and provide a framework for how legislatures should respond. Parliamentary precedents on both sides of the Atlantic prove that anyone who riots at the legislature is in contempt of parliamentary privilege. The legislature can refer such contempt to the executive for criminal prosecution. In egregious cases, however, the legislature should not hesitate to vindicate itself by using its own contempt power. The legislature should appoint a joint select committee or independent commission to investigate and hold those politically responsible to account.There may be cases when an officer or an agent of the executive provokes or incites a riot at the Capitol. The legislature must prevail in its efforts to bring them in for a hearing and compel them to produce discovery. Of the three coordinate branches of the federal government the legislature is first among equals. Parliamentary privilege must therefore trump executive privilege during an investigation of an assault on the national assembly. Any member of the executive who contemptuously incites a mob at the seat of government is liable for discipline under the inherent power of Congress.
      PubDate: Sat, 04 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • An Overview of Environmental Justice in Brazil

    • Abstract: This article discusses environmental conflict resolution in Brazil in both the administrative and judicial spheres, with the aim of analyzing the configuration of the bodies in charge of such adjudication, the procedural instruments at their disposal, and the main types, grounds and effects of environmental claims. An overview of the Brazilian system is evaluated based on the criteria of judicial and extrajudicial due process in order to point out certain dysfunctions of environmental adjudication that compromise its effectiveness, such as the inadequacy of the procedural legislation and the poor quality of the resulting decisions; ways of strengthening the rights and guarantees provided to litigants by the administrative and judicial authorities are also proposed as a means of improving the performance of environmental adjudication.
      PubDate: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Keeping It Complex With Philip Hunton, John Locke, and the United States
           Federal Judiciary: On the Merit of Murkiness in Separation of Powers
           Jurisprudence

    • Abstract: This article draws on the resources of a little-known political theorist, Philip Hunton, to explain the function of “murky” jurisprudence in the maintenance of separation of powers over time. In the era immediately before the drafting of the United States Constitution, separation of powers was a touted remedy to tyranny. But if government is thus moderated, a critical question arises: who will judge the precise contours of each institution's powers' This article addresses this longstanding question by comparing the solutions offered by Philip Hunton, John Locke, and the United States judiciary. I conclude that the judiciary's decried inability to clarify the limits of its own power is justified by Hunton's obscure explanation that separation of powers can only function so long as murkiness shrouds questions of ultimate institutional authority.
      PubDate: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Constructing Race

    • Abstract: The legal construction of race has assumed considerable importance for affirmative action and other purposes. But buffeted by racist tropes from an earlier day and simple self interest, the construct has become a nest of irrationalities and inconsistencies.
      PubDate: Sun, 04 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • A Global Constitutional Dialogue on Human Rights Challenges for the
           Judiciary in the 21st Century

    • PubDate: Sat, 12 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT
       
  • Freedom of Religion in the Brazilian Supreme Court in a Period of Three
           Decades

    • Abstract: Judicial institutions which provide legal mechanisms for conflict resolution play an important role in maintaining the social order of complex societies. Weaknesses in the performance of their duties can contribute to social conflict developing into outright violence that will be beyond the management of law and the courts. In this sense it is strategic to study the judicial system and the decision-making processes of its judges if one wants to understand the ways conflicts are dealt in a certain place and time. In this article we focus our attention on the role of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court as custodian of the Constitution and the discourses that its decision-making construct when dealing with human rights issues. Specifically we set out to understand how the opinions of Brazilian Supreme Court Justices are constructed when deciding cases concerning freedom of religion. The timeline considered covers 31 years, from 1988 to 2019, a period that begins with the promulgation of the new constitution in 1988 (which symbolically reinstated democracy in the country after the end of the period of military rule that began in 1964) up to the present day. We begin by presenting the legal definition of freedom of religion in Brazil which constitutes the normative background of the discussion. We then discuss our project, stressing the methodological approach we have adopted and finally we present our data findings. We identified 39 cases in total of which 11 were selected and analyzed using the methodology of Semiolinguistic Discourse Analysis in order to define the semantic field related to freedom of religion in Brazil. Even though the number of cases is not large it is possible to identify some features of Brazilian legal culture which are also recurrent when dealing with religious freedom. One of these features is the absence of consensus-building logic in the Justices’ opinions—we attribute this to what we term the disputatio mindset—which contributes to continuing institutional instability and legal insecurity. Our findings suggest that these Supreme Court decisions frequently lack the strong level of rational consistency that lower courts require if they are to identify clear guiding principles that can control the outcomes of new cases
      PubDate: Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT
       
 
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