The system of labor dispute resolution: from procedural formalization to the effectivity of practices 
This text has a double aim: first, it proposes to establish a model for the analysis of systems of labor dispute resolution which is composed of principles of socio-political regulation, forms of lawsuit resolution, and the individual and collective social loci in which the disputes emerge. Second, taking into account these dimensions, it studies the Portuguese system of labor dispute resolution, identifying its constitutive elements and characterizing their respective performances. The author problematizes the system, paying attention to the factors of obstruction and contraint that influence it.

The construction of a justice of proximity: The case of the Centers of Arbitration for Consumer Disputes  
In response to the current crisis in civil justice, derived from the overload of Judicial Courts, governments have promoted Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), among other reforms. In Portugal, alternative dispute resolution through arbitration centers is, in practice, about ten years old, and has assumed special importance in consumer disputes. These centers of information, mediation, and arbitration are the result of a creative tension between the European Union, which finances their establishment, the State (at central and local levels), which gives technical and logistical support, consumer associations, which dynamize them, and sometimes associations of merchants and producers. This partnership for justice, which is currently in the process of consolidation, offers a proximate, easy, free, and fast "new justice" for consumer disputes; it gives information about rights, prevents and resolves disputes, but still has a limited territorial and material reach.

The evolution of criminality and procedural reforms in the last decade: some contributions  
This article addresses the consequences of the performance of the mechanisms of selection of criminality on the volume of suits filed in the judicial system, as well as the impact of procedural reforms introduced into the juridical system with the aim of creating mechanisms of celerity and efficacy in the administration of criminal justice. Resorting to the available statistical indicators, the author concludes that the scope of application of these reforms is still very limited.

The "world" of magistrates: professional evaluation and discipline 
This article addresses the performance of the Conselho Superior de Magistratura (High Council of Judges) and the Conselho Superior do Ministério Público (High Council of Public Prosecutors), organs of management and evaluation of, respectively, judges and prosecutors. Their simultaneous importance and opacity have kept them far from any public control. Through the analysis of several indicators and interviews with judiciary actors, the author analyzes how these Councils evaluate and apply disciplinary power to magistrates, also taking into account the existing tensions between the political power and the judicial power which derive from the Councils' composition as well as their jurisdictions.

From the culture of impunity to global judicialization: The International Criminal Court   
This article discusses the dynamics of the international public order, paying attention to international crimes and the proliferation of international courts. The creation of the International Criminal Court is evaluated in the light of the current tendency towards the globalization of the rule of law and the global homogenization of judicial systems. I raise two main problems: first, that of knowing whether the Rome Statute, which instituted the International Criminal Court, constitutes a break with the Westphalian legacy of the strictly State-based nature of criminal jurisdictions, or whether, on the contrary, it presents decisive traces of continuity in relation to this legacy; second, that of the adequacy of the judicial solution to the overriding of genocidal States and policies, as well as the fulfillment of elementary considerations of humanity as basic demands of the contemporary world public order.

Juridical games in sports, or the pluralistic character of Sports Law  
The huge growth of sports has given rise to the need for a legal rationality inside and outside sports activities. In this double need to establish normative contours for sports, we can see a situation of confrontation between two orders: on one side the sports universe with a specific mode of legal order, and on the other the State, which, having the legal monopoly, does not want to abstain from establishing at least minimum rules for sports activities. Thus, this confrontation involves a situation of legal pluralism. This is the hypothesis of this text, from which the author seeks to examine how normativity in sports is forged and affirmed, and how it relates to the normativity of the State.

Justice in the Laboratory 
Forensic science seeks to help the Law by making justice more scientific and, therefore, in principle, more exact. A recent manifestation of this aim is the use of identification by DNA profiles. The adoption of this technique has opened up new possibilities in the field of individual identification, but it has also raised problems that may make its use controversial and originate abuses and judicial errors, putting at stake fundamental principles of citizenship and democracy. Paying attention to the central importance of the question of the standardization of techniques, in its virtualities and risks-namely, the possibility of the standardization of Law-this study seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the use of identification by DNA profiles. At the same time, it attempts to understand the workings of the tension between a forensic science that is becoming globalized and a Law that remains localized.