The Revolution of 1820 and the Constitution of 1822: 200 Years of Liberalism and Constitutionalism in Portugal in a debate at the Holy Trinity College

On September 22 and 23, an international congress was held at the Holy Trinity College: The Revolution of 1820 and the Constitution of 1822: 200 Years of Liberalism and Constitutionalism in Portugal.

Bringing together national and international scholars of the highest reputation, the meeting aimed to think and reflect on different issues surrounding the particular experience of constitutionalism and liberalism in Portugal. By developing the multiple dimensions that came together in the revolutionary environment of 1820, reconstruction was attempted of what was - to recall the intervention of Professor Fernando José Bronze - the past, present, and future of the Revolution of 1820 and the Constitution of 1822, and how this experience influences the vision we have today of the past, present, and future.

Through historical, philosophical, and legal (re)readings, we have recalled the revolutionary acts of 1820 and the consequent debates in the General and Extraordinary Courts of 1821 and 1822, we have considered the illuminist and liberal philosophical presuppositions that underpinned the revolutionary and constituent period, and we have analyzed, comparatively, the relationship of the Portuguese experience with the various European constitutional movements, namely, the French, the Spanish, and the German. The analysis of the latter was presented to us, respectively, by the distinguished communications of professors Michel Troper (Université Paris XI - Paris-Nanterre), José Júlio Fernández Rodríguez (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela), and Dieter Grimm (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin).

Among the national contributions is worth of mention the participation of professors Fernando José Bronze (University of Coimbra Law School) - through the reading made by Professor Ana Raquel Gonçalves Moniz -, Rui de Figueiredo Marcos (University of Coimbra Law School) José Pedro Paiva (Coimbra University Faculty of Arts), Maria José Azevedo Santos (Coimbra University Faculty of Arts), Ana Cristina Araújo (Coimbra University Faculty of Arts), Jorge Loureiro (President of the Coimbra Court of Appeal), António dos Santos Justo (Coimbra University Faculty of Law), José Francisco de Faria Costa (Coimbra University Law School, former Ombudsman), Pedro Barbas-Homem (Lisbon University Law School), Fernando Alves Correia (Coimbra University Law School), Minister Carlos Mathias de Souza (University of Brasília, President of the Italo-Ibero-Brazilian Institute for Legal Studies) - through the reading done by his daughter -, José Manuel Cardoso da Costa (University of Coimbra Law School, former President of the Constitutional Court) and Maria da Glória Garcia (former Rector of the Portuguese Catholic University).

All of these spoke in the six plenary sessions. In addition to these, the congress also had six parallel sessions, totaling about 35 communications that allowed the congress to be built in all its richness.