ABSTRACT
The most serious difficulty experienced by Englishmen in Portugal during the time that the 1654 treaty was operative was the inability to obtain justice in the courts of law. In November 1670 Parry reported that in Lisbon, Englishmen were being sent to prison daily by order of judges other than the conservator. On 13 October 1752, it was ordered that any conservator violating that law would be suspended for six months. As far as the law of 30 October 1752 was concerned, conservators were magistrates to whom recourse could be had in the first instance. The law which gave the conservators of the monopoly companies superiority over all other conservators was passed on 10 February 1757. Since the privilege was first granted, the conservator had always been changed triennially according to the laws of Portugal. Had the Portuguese legal system provided quick justice for merchants in their trading, there would not have been any need for a conservator.
