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Activity Funded

Gates to democratic law: the historical position of legal scholars and lawyers in the construction of democratic values and democratic legal order (1960-1978)

Portas para o direito democrático: a posição histórica de juristas e advogados na construção dos valores democráticos e da ordem legal democrática (1960-1978)

Reference
2023.10875.25ABR
Project Start Date
2024-09-15
Project End Date
2026-06-30
Principal Investigator
Coinvestigator
Scientific Area
Humanities
Funding Program
O 25 de Abril e a democracia portuguesa

Abstract

What role did legal professionals play in conveying democratic values and building the legal order of democracies? What values guided political agency and the legal understanding of legal scholars and other professionals, such as lawyers, and how did they promote democratic empowerment? Which causes benefited from their action? These questions, yet unexplored by the literature, are answered by GLAW through a high-yield research project: GLAW starts with the hypothesis that the construction of democratic values and the deepening awareness of rights began even under the Salazar/Caetano and Franco regimes, in an effort expended by various opposition lawyers and legal scholars associated with universities who provided consultancy to various civil and state institutions. It acknowledges that many of these professionals formed the leading political class that operated after the fall of authoritarian regimes, and that others were direct collaborators with decision-making political centres, maintaining strong connections and commitments to military bodies (especially in the Portuguese case), unions, the Catholic Church, and various civic movements that emerged. GLAW assesses the guiding framework provided by these Portuguese and Spanish professionals in developing new legislation, speaking about rights, representing litigations, and acting through other legal tactics. To achieve this, GLAW opts for an interdisciplinary approach, wherein history, political science, philosophy, and law come together to conduct the research effort and interpret results. The research will focus on identifying the motivations and interests of legal scholars and lawyers associated with the promotion of rights and the development of democratic legislation during the Salazar/Caetano and Franco regimes, as well as during the transition to democracy in those countries. GLAW hopes to: I) disclose types of judicial and extrajudicial restrictions that these professionals overcame or attempted to overcome; II) discover patterns of agenda-setting; III) contribute to uncovering processes of awareness of rights. The goal is to produce an empirical and theoretical tool that clarifies preferences regarding the democratic legal order under construction in both countries, profiles political agency and legal understanding regarding these professionals, and identifies recurring patterns of democratic empowerment. GLAW possesses high social value by highlighting how democratic empowerment is closely intertwined with the exercise of political agency defending the Rule of Law and promoting legal security, essential for reversing authoritarianism and preventing the decline of democracies.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL)

Other Institutions

  • Universidade de Sevilha (US)

Funding 25.000,00 €

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Portugal

25.000,00 €