The Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES), hosts the project CRIMJUR – The Criminal Jury in Portugal. A History of a Forgotten Legal and Political Institution (1822–1927), approved under the Exploratory Research Projects Call (PEX) of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

Developed by Emmanuel Berger, the project aims to analyse, for the first time in a systematic manner, the Portuguese criminal jury from its introduction in the liberal context of the early nineteenth century to its abolition in 1927. Despite the crucial role played by the jury in promoting civic participation and safeguarding individual freedoms, its history remains largely unexplored. To date, no comprehensive studies exist on its social composition, institutional organisation, or judicial practices.

Adopting an exploratory and interdisciplinary approach, CRIMJUR seeks to lay the foundations for a new field of research in Portuguese social, political, and legal history. To this end, the project is structured around three main objectives: first, the identification and systematisation of archival sources relating to the criminal jury across the national territory; second, the analysis of the jury in its social, political, and legal dimensions; and third, the contextualisation of the Portuguese case within a comparative European framework, tracing the expansion and circulation of the institution throughout the nineteenth century.

The project will start in January 2026 and will have a total duration of 18 months