People are equal before the law. This principle is strongly embedded in the judicial doctrine of the Enlightenment, and for that matter also in the liberal Belgian constitution. In practice, however, justice administration does not always follow that rule: some people appear to be more equal before the law than others.

Focusing on the social profiles and penal trajectories of persons confronted with criminal justice (police, courts, prisons) in 19th-century Belgium, this interdisciplinary, historical-criminological research project aims to determine how different dimensions of social vulnerability (gender, class, age, migration background…) shape the workings of criminal justice. Using this intersectional approach, we thus examine the ways in which the interplay of various social vulnerabilities affects uses, practices and experiences of justice.