A consagração dos naturais

“One cannot analyse a legal concept outside the economic and socio-cultural context in which it was applied” – such is the longstanding thesis of António Manuel Hespanha. I argue that Hespanha’s line of argument relative to legal concepts is also applicable, mutatis mutandis, to legal agents: the magistrates, advocates, notaries, solicitors and clerks who lived and exercised their professions in a given time and place. The question, then, is how to understand the actions of these individuals in particular contexts – more specifically in late 18th century and 19th century Goa. The main goal of the present thesis was to comprehend how westernized and Catholic Goan elite of Brahman and Chardó origin who provided the majority of Goan legal agents used Portuguese law to their own advantage. It can be divided into five key points. The first one is the importance of the Constitutional liberalism regime (with all the juridical, judicial, administrative and political changes that it has brought, namely the parliamentary representation) and its relations with the perismo – a local political and ideological tendency nurtured by Goan native Catholic elite. It was explored in the chapter 2 of this thesis. The second key point is the repeated attempts made by Goan native Catholic elite to implement the jury system in local courts. It was studied in the chapter 3. Chapter 4 aims to understand the participation of the native Catholic elite in the codification process of the uses and traditions of the indigenous peoples in New Conquests territory. The fourth key point is the involvement of those elites not only in the conflict of civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions but also in the succession of the Royal House of Sunda. It was analyzed in the chapter 5. The functions of an advocate could be delegated to someone who, though lacking a law degree, possessed sufficient knowledge to perform this role satisfactorily. Those who held a special licence to practice law were known as provisionários (from provisão, or licence, as opposed to the letrados, or lettered). In the Goa of the second half of the 18th century and the 19th century, such provisionários were abundant, the vast majority coming from the native Catholic elite. The characteristics of those provisionários, the role played by the Portuguese letrados in Goa and the difficult relations between both groups were studied in the chapter 6.

As forças de tipo gendarmerie e as operações/missões de gestão de crises da União Europeia

The European Union has taken in recent years an increasingly important role in ensuring peace and stability in the international community, and the security and defence policy of the Union has become synonymous with crisis management. The Union has addressed the issue of crisis management through two sources: the military side and the civilian side, which consists in carrying out numerous crisis management operations and missions. This study discusses the role of the European Union in conducting crisis management operations and missions and how the gendarmerie forces contribute to the success of the same. It will discuss the evolution of the European Union's security policy and the concept of crisis management, and seek to demonstrate the added value of the commitment of gendarmerie forces in operations and missions of crisis management, particularly with regard to employment of the European Gendarmerie Force. On the other hand, it will study the planning process for crisis management of the European Union, featuring the entities and agencies involved in it, and presenting the products that result from this same process. The use of Gendarmerie forces in crisis management operations and missions has significant advantages. Its use is recommended to post - conflict scenarios, in complementarity with the armed forces, in order to overcome the "security gap" that mediates the transition from the state of conflict for the period of peace and reconstruction. Gendarmerie forces can also be engaged both in military crisis management operations and civilian crisis management missions.

Semantic relations extraction from unstructured information for domain ontologies enrichment

Based in internet growth, through semantic web, together with communication speed improvement and fast development of storage device sizes, data and information volume rises considerably every day. Because of this, in the last few years there has been a growing interest in structures for formal representation with suitable characteristics, such as the possibility to organize data and information, as well as the reuse of its contents aimed for the generation of new knowledge. Controlled Vocabulary, specifically Ontologies, present themselves in the lead as one of such structures of representation with high potential. Not only allow for data representation, as well as the reuse of such data for knowledge extraction, coupled with its subsequent storage through not so complex formalisms. However, for the purpose of assuring that ontology knowledge is always up to date, they need maintenance. Ontology Learning is an area which studies the details of update and maintenance of ontologies. It is worth noting that relevant literature already presents first results on automatic maintenance of ontologies, but still in a very early stage. Human-based processes are still the current way to update and maintain an ontology, which turns this into a cumbersome task. The generation of new knowledge aimed for ontology growth can be done based in Data Mining techniques, which is an area that studies techniques for data processing, pattern discovery and knowledge extraction in IT systems. This work aims at proposing a novel semi-automatic method for knowledge extraction from unstructured data sources, using Data Mining techniques, namely through pattern discovery, focused in improving the precision of concept and its semantic relations present in an ontology. In order to verify the applicability of the proposed method, a proof of concept was developed, presenting its results, which were applied in building and construction sector.

Do Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas

The President of the Portuguese Republic’s relation with the Armed Forces in the current political system is not confined to the vast legislative and constitutional set. As Chief of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President holds different powers. We develop an approach through the main concepts and themes that regulate the Armed Forces and National Defense, focusing the relations that involve the President directly. The attribution by inherence of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces to the Chief of State, imposes a peculiar relation with the remainder sovereign institutions. The need to analyze the intermediate services as far as military and defense issues are concerned becomes necessary, in particular the role of the Military Cabinet – as a structure of direct support – and the High Council of National Defense – as an advisory body.

Contribution of Mental Health Service User Groups to Mental Health Services and Policy in Ghana : The Case of Mental Health Society of Ghana

RESUMO: Este estudo procurou documentar a perspectiva (s) dos utentes de saúde mental e das associações de prestadores de cuidados sobre a prestação, o papel e a contribuição de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade tal como foram percebidos por um número de informadores-chave, incluindo os utentes do serviço mentais e os próprios prestadores de cuidados. O caso específico da Sociedade Saúde Mental do Gana (MEHSOG) foi o foco deste estudo. O modelo foi o de um estudo de caso, utilizando discussões de grupo e entrevistas com informadores-chave como instrumentos de recolha de dados. Estas ferramentas de colheita de dados foram complementadas por observações dos participantes e pela revisão de documentos da MEHSOG e dos vários grupos de apoio da comunidade de auto-ajuda que compõem a associação nacional. O estudo revelou que os utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e seus prestadores de cuidados constituem um importante grupo de partes interessadas na prestação de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade e no desenvolvimento de políticas que tenham em conta as necessidades e os direitos das pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia. O envolvimento da MEHSOG promove a mobilização de membros e famílias relacionadas com a doença mental de beneficiar de serviços de tratamento bem organizados com um impacto significativo na melhoria da saúde e da participação dos utentes dos serviços e seus prestadores de cuidados primários em processos de tomada de decisão da família e na comunidade processos de desenvolvimento. Os utentes dos serviços por beneficiarem de tratamento, e os prestadores de cuidados primários, por se tornarem mais livres e menos sobrecarregados com a responsabilidade de cuidar, podem passar a envolver-se mais em atividades que melhoramo seu estado, o de suas famílias e das comunidades. A advocacia dos membros da MEHSOG para conseguir que a “Mental Health Bill” se transforme numa Lei foi também um desenvolvimento significativo resultante da participação ativa dos utentes do serviço em chamar a atenção para uma nova e inclusiva legislação de saúde mental para o Gana. Entre os fatores e oportunidades que permitiram aos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e aos prestadores de cuidados primários de pessoas com doença mental apoiar activamente a prestação de serviços de saúde mental comunitária e o desenvolvimento de políticas conta-se a contribuição da sociedade civil do Gana, particularmente o movimento da deficiência, e os esforços anteriores de ONGs em saúde mental e dos profissionais de saúde mental para ter uma nova lei em saúde mental. Observámos um certo número de desafios e barreiras que actuam de forma a limitar a influência dos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental na provisão da saúde mental comunitária e no desenvolvimento de políticas. Entre elas o estigma social contra a doença mental e pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia e seus cuidadores primaries é um factor chave. O estigma tem alterado a percepção e as análises do público em geral, especialmente dos profissionais de saúde e das autoridades políticas afetando a priorização dos problemas de saúde mental nas políticas e programas. Outro desafio foi a deficiente infra-estrutura disponível para apoiar serviços de saúde mentais que assegurem aos utentes permanecerem em bom estado de saúde e bem-estar para serem advogados de si próprios. A recomendação do presente estudo é que os movimentos de utentes dos serviços de saúde mental são importantes e que eles precisam de ser apoiados e encorajados a desempenhar o seu papel como pessoas com experiência vivida para contribuir para a organização e prestação de serviços de saúde mental, bem como para a implementação, monitorização e avaliação de políticas e programas. ------------------------------------ ABSTRACT: This study sought to document the perspective(s) of mental health users and care-givers associations in community mental health service provision and their role and contribution as it was perceived by a number of key informants including the mental service users and care-givers themselves. The specific case of the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) was the focus of this study. A case study approach was used to with Focus Group Discussions and Key Informants Interviews being the data collection tools that were used. These data collection tools were complemented by participant observations and review of documents of the MEHSOG and the various community self-help peer support groups that make up the national association. The study revealed that mental health service users and their care-givers constitute an important stakeholder group in community mental health service provision and development of policies that factor in the needs and rights of persons with mental illness or epilepsy. MEHSOG’s involvement in mobilising members and education families to come forward with the relations with mental illness to benefit from treatment services were well made a significant impact in improving the health and participation of service users and their primary carers in family decision-making processes and in community development processes. Service users, on benefiting from treatment, and primary care-givers, on becoming freer and less burdened with the responsibility of care, move on to engage in secure livelihoods activities, which enhanced their status in their families and communities. The advocacy MEHSOG members undertook in getting the mental health Bill become Law was also noted as significant development that was realised as a result of active involvement of service users in calling for a new and inclusive mental health legislation for Ghana. Enabling factors and opportunities that enabled mental health service users and primary care-givers of people with mental illness to actively support community mental health service provision and policy development is with the vibrant civil society presence in Ghana, particularly the disability movement, and earlier efforts by NGOs in mental health in Ghana long-side mental health professionals to have a new law in mental health. A number of challenges were also noted which were found to limit the extent to which mental health service users can be influential in community mental health service provision and policy development. Key among them was the social stigma against mental illness and people with mental illness or epilepsy and their primary carers. Stigma has affected perceptions, analyses of the general public, especially health practitioners and policy authorities that it has affected their prioritisation of mental health issues in policies and programmes. Another challenge was the poor infrastructure available to support enhanced mental health care services that ensure mental health service users remain in a good state of health and wellbeing to advocate for themselves. The recommendation from the study is that mental health service user movements are important and need to be supported and encouraged to play their role as persons with lived experience to inform organisation and provision of mental health services as well as design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programes.

O princípio da confidencialidade na mediação em matéria civil e comercial

The purpose of the following study is to analyze the relevance of the principle of confidentiality concerning mediation on civil and commercial matters developed in Portugal. We will, essentially, try to determine just how pivotal is this principle and how it affects the effectiveness of that method of alternative dispute resolution. We believe it is fundamental to understand the true extent of this principle and its goals, emphasizing the protection given to those who decide to resort to mediation and its impact on this process. For this dissertation, we have based our analysis on the interpretation of the set rules assembled by Law nr 29/2013, April 19th, while combining it with data gathered from other laws and regulations that had also addressed mediation. Furthermore, given the fact that this subject has been regulated by Directive 2008/52/EC, we deem pertinent to include references to other European mediation regulations, namely from Germany, Spain and France. With this study, we have established that, even though the Portuguese mediation law is based on a European Directive, we have determined a more restrictive regulation for the principle of confidentiality. We have concluded that the rules regarding this principle try to preserve, above all, the trust and honesty established during the course of the mediation, while restricting the possibility of using the information disclosed during these sessions on other cases. Additionally, we believe confidentiality is such a distinctive and relevant feature that its legal framework leads us to deem it as a true obstacle to the parties’ private autonomy and their power to determine how the mediation should be carried out.

A culpa do serviço como fundamento do dever de indemnizar por parte da Administração Pública

Avec l’évolution de la conception de l’État social de droit et avec la modification de la conception des relations entre l’administration publique et ses fonctionnaires, l’idée d’un État irresponsable a commencé a disparaître et à donner lieu à une responsabilité administrative toujours en croissance envers des actions ou des omissions qui portent préjudice aux particuliers. Après un comportement négligent, et avec un retard significatif par rapport au système français qui l’ a inspiré, l’ordre juridique portugais a accueilli, d’abord dans la jurisprudence, ensuite dans la doctrine et, finalement, dans la législation, avec la lo i, nº 67/2007 du 31 Décembre, la figure de la faute du service. Cet institut fonde le devoir de l’administration publique de dédommager l’individu lésé, même si ce n’est point possible d’avérer l’ auteur individuel et concret du préjudice. On considère que il y a eu un fonctionnement irrégulier et le service publique, en général, en est responsabilisé.

As peculiaridades da democratização da região do Cáucaso do Sul no contexto da Política Europeia de Vizinhança

O período após o colapso da União Soviética foi o tempo da procura de novas identidades na nova realidade e de escolha de novos parceiros e aliados, o tempo da construção de novos estados e de formulação das regras e normas nacionais. Após o desmoronamento da ideologia soviética - um facto reconhecido oficialmente durante o período da Perestroika –, as pessoas sentiram uma necessidade de preencher o vácuo ideológico e desenvolver uma nova identidade. Foi proclamada a rejeição da estrutura política administrativa herdada da União Soviética e do sistema de economia planificada, e desenvolvida a tendência para a construção do estado democrático fundado numa economia de mercado. As expectativas relativas às transformações no período pós-soviético estavam relacionadas com o Ocidente (EUA e UE), e a construção do estado soberano foi fundada em modelos ocidentais de estado de direito, ‘boa governança’ e a economia de mercado. A UE desempenhou um papel importante na democratização dos estados da região do Sul do Cáucaso através de vários projetos e programas bilaterais e multilaterais no âmbito da Política Europeia de Vizinhança e da Parceria Oriental. Embora as reformas democráticas tenham sido realizadas com vista ao estabelecimento de uma Constituição democrática, à implementação de eleições democráticas e ao desenvolvimento da sociedade civil, fortaleceram, também, ainda mais, a natureza autoritária do poder, impediram a criação de um estado de direito, reforçaram violação dos direitos e das liberdades humanas. (NODIYA, 2003: 30; BAKHMAN, 2003: 17; BADALOV, 2003: 20). Deste modo, o processo da promoção da democracia através das reformas nos três estados do Sul do Cáucaso conduziu à criação de estados de “conteúdo autocrático misto, mas de forma democrática” (CHETERYAN, 2003: 41). Embora seja possível identificar as semelhanças entre os três estados da região do Sul do Cáucaso nas reformas do processo de desenvolvimento, os métodos e meios de implementação de reformas nas realidades dos estados regionais pela administração nacional foram bastante diferentes, por razões associadas às especificidades de cada um (DELCOUR e WOLCZUK, 2013: 3). Cada país é caracterizado pelas suas peculiaridades ao nível da situação geopolítica e diversidade do potencial económico – fatores que definem a trajetória política e económica do estado no período pós-soviético e, em certa medida, influenciam o modo como se desenvolvem as relações com a UE e, portanto, o processo de adoção das reformas e a sua introdução a nível nacional.

Design of a case-based reasoner for information security in military organizations

Information security is concerned with the protection of information, which can be stored, processed or transmitted within critical information systems of the organizations, against loss of confidentiality, integrity or availability. Protection measures to prevent these problems result through the implementation of controls at several dimensions: technical, administrative or physical. A vital objective for military organizations is to ensure superiority in contexts of information warfare and competitive intelligence. Therefore, the problem of information security in military organizations has been a topic of intensive work at both national and transnational levels, and extensive conceptual and standardization work is being produced. A current effort is therefore to develop automated decision support systems to assist military decision makers, at different levels in the command chain, to provide suitable control measures that can effectively deal with potential attacks and, at the same time, prevent, detect and contain vulnerabilities targeted at their information systems. The concept and processes of the Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) methodology outstandingly resembles classical military processes and doctrine, in particular the analysis of “lessons learned” and definition of “modes of action”. Therefore, the present paper addresses the modeling and design of a CBR system with two key objectives: to support an effective response in context of information security for military organizations; to allow for scenario planning and analysis for training and auditing processes.

Discriminação de género e construção das masculinidades nos contextos de trabalho: o caso da engenharia civil

Dissertação de mestrado em Gestão de Recursos Humanos

Educação, democracia e sociedade civil

O objetivo da comunicação é fazer uma revisitação ao tema já clássico da relação entre a educação e a democracia partindo da hipótese de trabalho segundo a qual se verifica, nos países mais severamente colonizados pela governamentalidade neoliberal, uma des-democratização das finalidades da educação e que esse fenómeno é tanto mais funesto quanto compromete a resposta a desafios que hoje assolam a democracia, como é o caso da sua reconstrução como projeto de vida em comum numa era de tensões étnicas, culturais e religiosas, e, ainda, a questão da sustentabilidade ambiental do seu padrão de vida. O texto da comunicação analisa criticamente essa situação e sustenta a necessidade de rearticular mais intensamente a educação com a democracia ao nível das finalidades do ato educativo, não só na escola e nas instituições de ensino, mas também no próprio âmbito da sociedade civil, aí onde ocorre uma grande parte da nossa formação em atitudes, valores e comportamentos. A esta luz, procura-se mostrar que é legítimo esperar da sociedade civil um contributo na formação de cidadãos aptos a corresponderem aos desafios atuais da democracia, seja em termos de interculturalidade, seja em termos de sustentabilidade, e que essa ação ganha pertinência e relevância pedagógica no âmbito das organizações mais emblemáticas da sociedade civil percorrendo determinados caminhos educativos.

Da responsabilidade civil do médico por falta de consentimento informado

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito dos Contratos e da Empresa

Qualidade de vida, morbilidade psicológica e stress familiar em idosos residentes na comunidade

Este estudo procurou investigar as relações existentes entre morbilidade psicológica, stress familiar e qualidade de vida (QV) da pessoa idosa. A amostra foi constituída por 126 idosos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Bref), Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GSI), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS); e Index of Family Relations (IFR). Os resultados revelaram a importância da idade, estado civil, escolaridade e número de patologias assim como o género na capacidade funcional, morbilidade, stress familiar e QV. Ao nível dos preditores, a depressão foi a variável que mais contribuiu para a QV. Não foram encontradas variáveis moderadoras no modelo. A discussão e implicações dos resultados são abordadas bem como a intervenção psicológica nesta população.