Suriname was one of the most emblematic slave societies of the Atlantic world and saw a court system in which a Governing Council functioned simultaneously as political council to the governor, as a criminal court and also elected the Civil Court. Studies of the practice of the Governing Council have been limited to a small number of spectacularly brutal cases canonised by abolitionist campaigners. This article reconstructs how various forums for arbitration related to the Governing Council, and how this relationship changed by comparing its practices across the long eighteenth century. I conclude that the Governing Council interacted with several forums, both formally recognised as well as informal, in the colony. Over time, adjudication became increasingly dependent on the authority of the Governing Council. The combination of the political and legal roles contributed to the process of colonial state formation in Suriname. Studies of the practices of similar courts will clarify how the Dutch Empire successfully governed its diverse populations.

中文翻译：

---

苏里南管理委员会对法律角色的篡夺，1669-1816 年

苏里南是大西洋世界最具象征意义的奴隶社会之一，在法院系统中，理事会同时作为总督的政治委员会、刑事法庭和民事法庭选举产生。对理事会实践的研究仅限于少数被废奴运动者奉为圣典的极其残酷的案件。本文通过比较整个 18 世纪的实践，重新构建了各种仲裁论坛与理事会的关系，以及这种关系是如何变化的。我的结论是，管理委员会与殖民地的几个正式承认的和非正式的论坛进行了互动。随着时间的推移，裁决越来越依赖于理事会的权威。政治和法律角色的结合促成了苏里南殖民国家的形成过程。对类似法院做法的研究将阐明荷兰帝国如何成功地管理其多样化的人口。