Funchal (judicial district) 1Origins and the 1838 and 1875 divisions
Funchal (judicial district)
Original title: Funchal (Comarca do)
History of the judicial district (comarca) of Funchal, from the regularisation of justice in 1767 through the 1838 division into western and eastern comarcas to the reorganisations of 1875, 1927 and 1933.
1Origins and the 1838 and 1875 divisions
Only in 1767, when juízes de fora (crown-appointed judges) and corregedores (royal magistrates) began to be appointed on a permanent basis, did the administration of justice in this archipelago take on a regular form in keeping with the nature of the important services it performed. This situation lasted until 1838, when two judicial districts (comarcas) were created, both with their seat in the city of Funchal. They were named the western judicial district and the eastern judicial district. The first comprised the parishes (freguesias) of the municipalities (concelhos) of Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, Calheta, Porto Moniz and São Vicente, with the exception of the parish of the Sé (Funchal Cathedral); the second covered the parish of the Sé and the parishes of the municipalities of Santa Cruz, Machico, Sant’Ana and Porto Santo.
The decree of 12 November 1875 profoundly altered the judicial division by creating the judicial districts of Funchal, Ponta do Sol, Santa Cruz and São Vicente. That of Funchal was installed on 16 November 1876 and was divided into nine julgados (lower court divisions), comprising the parishes of the municipalities of Funchal and Câmara de Lobos.
2Reforms of 1927 and 1933
The decree of 22 June 1927, which abolished the judicial district (comarca) of São Vicente, altered the division of the julgados, or justice-of-the-peace districts, of the Funchal judicial district. These were thereafter made up of the parishes (freguesias) of Arco de São Jorge, Câmara de Lobos, Campanário, Curral das Freiras, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, Faial, Santa Luzia, Santa Maria Maior, São Pedro, São Roque, Monte, Porto Santo, Quinta Grande, Sant'Ana, Santo António, São Jorge, São Martinho and São Gonçalo, each of these parishes forming a julgado of its own.
The extraordinary volume of business in this judicial district led to the creation of a further court, so that there came to be a Civil and Commercial Court (Juízo Cível e Comercial) and a Criminal Court (Juízo Criminal), each of the two courts headed by a judge. All this was regulated by the Decree of 22 June 1927, which thus rendered a notable service to the orderly and effective administration of justice. The Decree of 29 June 1933 recast the provisions of the earlier decree, establishing two courts (varas) of mixed jurisdiction, named the Court of Law of the First Division of the Funchal Judicial District (Juízo de Direito da Primeira Vara da Comarca do Funchal) and the Court of Law of the Second Division (Juízo de Direito da Segunda Vara). The same decree created the Judicial Secretariat (Secretaria Judicial). Each court consisted of three sections, each section of a head and a clerk, and there was also a central section common to both courts with two heads, known as heads of the secretariat, one of them being a deputy.
The complete list of the magistrates who have served as judges of law in the judicial districts of Funchal from 1835 to the present day will be published in the articles under the heading Judges.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 07-
The 1766 decree was applied to Madeira, and the first permanent, separate corregedor and juiz de fora took office, regularising justice on the island.
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Starting year of the list of juízes de direito in the Funchal comarcas.
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The two julgados were converted into the eastern and western comarcas, both seated in Funchal.
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A decree reorganised Madeira's judicial administration into four comarcas: Funchal, Ponta do Sol, Santa Cruz and São Vicente, making São Vicente the seat of a judicial district.
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Judicial reorganisation: the comarca of São Vicente was installed and the single comarca of Funchal, divided into nine julgados, replaced the western and eastern comarcas.
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A decree abolished the São Vicente comarca, redrew Funchal's julgados and created separate civil and criminal courts.
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A decree established two mixed courts (varas) and a judicial secretariat in the Funchal judicial district.
Place
Places mentioned · 26
- Arco de São Jorge
Santana. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
North-coast parish of the municipality of Santana, separated from São Jorge in 1676, over which the Pico do Arco de São Jorge (837 m) rises. It still had no cemetery in 1862 and became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927. It is linked to Boaventura by a path across the Entrosa escarpment, and its forests were damaged in the 1919 fire.
- Calheta
Municipality in the 1838 western comarca.
Calheta is a town and municipality in western Madeira, created by royal charter of 1 July 1502. It later became the seat of a countship granted to the captains of Funchal and was reorganised as a concelho in 1835.
- Câmara de Lobos
Municipality included in the western comarca and later in the Funchal comarca.
Câmara de Lobos is a municipality of Madeira whose seat was historically a 'lugar' rather than a vila. The Elucidário quotes Gaspar Frutuoso's description of it and outlines the creation of the concelho in 1835 and later changes to its parishes.
- Campanário
Ribeira Brava. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
Campanário is a parish in Madeira, formerly part of Câmara de Lobos and later joined to the municipality of Ribeira Brava, drained by the Ribeira do Campanário (or da Lapa). The Elucidário records its landing, its band, its capitania-mor, its tithes paid to the Jesuits, a former chapel of St John founded in 1728, and the vicar sentenced by the Alçada of 1823. It was also the birthplace of Bishop D. Manuel Joaquim Gonçalves de Andrade and the jurist Francisco Justino Gonçalves de Andrade.
- Curral das Freiras
Câmara de Lobos. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
Small inland parish set in a deep valley believed to be an extinct volcanic crater and Madeira's main eruptive focus. The estate was bought for the nuns of Santa Clara, who fled there in 1566 and gave it their name, and it was created a parish in 1790. It was earlier a pasture and a refuge for runaway slaves and criminals, and it became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
- Estreito de Câmara de Lobos
Câmara de Lobos. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
Estreito de Câmara de Lobos is a parish in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, Madeira, created in the early sixteenth century around the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça. It was the main centre of rye-straw hat weaving and cheese-making, grows Sercial, Verdelho, Tinta and Bastardo, and became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
- Faial
Santana. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
Faial is a north-coast parish of Santana municipality created in 1550, whose mountain springs feed the Levada da Serra. It contains Chícharos and the Diferença chapel, owns the eastern part of Pico Ruivo, and is noted for cheese-making and columnar basalt.
- Funchal
Seat of the comarcas discussed in the entry.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Machico
Municipality in the 1838 eastern comarca.
Machico is a town and municipality of Madeira set in a valley. The Elucidário traces its municipal history from its probable creation around 1451, through the loss of territory to Santa Cruz, São Vicente and Santana. It also records its arms, its privileges and its new town hall of 1929.
- Monte
Funchal. Became a julgado of the Funchal comarca in 1927.
Parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte above Funchal, at about 600 m, where leafing occurs later than in Funchal. It contains the localities of Jardim Botânico, Igreja and Marmeleiros and the Quinta de Sant'Ana. The Elucidário notes its many plants, such as acacias and Sonchus fruticosus.
- Ponta do Sol
Part of the western comarca in 1838 and seat of its own comarca from 1875.
South-coast parish and municipality, settled from about 1440 by Rodrigo Enes 'o Coxo'. Its parish church of Nossa Senhora da Luz holds a triptych. The Elucidário also records its quay of 1848, paid for by the council, and the royal visit of 1858.
- Porto Moniz
Municipality in the 1838 western comarca.
North-western parish and municipality with a quay and a tolerable port that serves as a good landing when southerly winds close the south coast. It has one of the oldest Magdalene chapels in northern Madeira, whose feast falls on 22 July. It was the birthplace of Dr Manuel Gomes Jardim.