Juiz de fora (office)

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Juiz de fora" office – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A juiz de fora (pronounced [ˈʒwiʒ ðɨ ˈfɔɾɐ]; lit. 'judge from the outside' or 'outsider judge') was a magistrate appointed by the King of Portugal to serve in the municipalities where the intervention of an impartial and unbiased judge - usually from outside of the town - was necessary. Often, the judges also assumed a political role, being appointed to preside over municipal councils (câmaras) in order to provide some central control.