Abstract
The present work intends to analyze how the prison system developed in the Province of Minas Gerais in the period of the Empire of Brazil, especially after the year of 1830, when the publication of the Criminal Code did not create a specific regulation of the imprisonment, which by its turn hindered the improvement of prisons in all federate states. This article resorted to a research of laws edited at that time, as well as to documents produced by the Presidents of the beforementioned Province, statements of Attorney Generals, and articles published in newspapers at that time. It is concluded, after exposing how Minas Gerais acted regarding this theme and which issues were prioritized by the legislative power, that the absence of specific laws concerning this subject provoked problematic results to the penitentiary system, favoring the development of a structurally defective prison system.
Keywords
Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais; legislative competence; Criminal Code of 1830; imprisonment; regulation of imprisonment