Legal foundations of administration in Belarusian lands in the 14th-18th centuries (overview)

The Belarusian ethnic lands in the 14th-18th centuries formed a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (full name from the mid-15th century – the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus (Ruthenia) and Samogitia; abbr. GDL, in Russian transliteration VKL) – an east-European multiethnic state, a federation in the early period of its existence and confederation with the Kingdom of Poland following the Union of Lublin of 1569 (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), which ceased to exist after its annexation by the Russian Empire with the status of provinces.

In the history of Belarusian state and law the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is divided into several stages: before and after the Union of Lublin of 1569, when independent lawmaking in the Grand Duchy became gradually unified with the Polish legislation, and after the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, when the laws of the Russian Empire began to spread on Belarusian lands.

Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the Union of Lublin of 1569

Founded in the 13th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stood on a strong foundation of cultural, social and economic achievements of the previous epoch. As a heritage from the Polotsk-Turov period of Belarusian history the Grand Duchy received solid juridical resources. This mainly included Pilot Books (Kormchaia Kniga) – extensive collections of church and civil laws used in deciding a wide variety of legal and administrative cases (not only church-related). They originate from Nomocanons – the Byzantine codes of law which included resolutions of ecumenical and local councils, the Emperor’s decisions on church matters, extracts from various legal codes. At the end of the 12th century on the Athos in Greece, a special edition of the pilot book was compiled, which was translated into the Old Russian language in Serbia in the first half of the 13th century, assuming the name of the Serbian Edition. About 30 copies of this book of Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian origin have survived from the 13th to 19th centuries. The Serbian Edition became especially widespread in the 15th-16th centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The so-called Rumyantsev Copy was created in the last quarter of the 15th century in the Turov-Pinsk Eparchy, and it was rewritten in one collection with the statutes of Princes Vladimir and Yaroslav and the 1468 Law Code of the GDL. This testifies that the Serbian pilot book was regarded as an active legal code at that time. The Pinsk Copy of 1634 includes inserts in the Belarusian language about the Councils. In the 1260s-1270s in Rus there appeared the Russian pilot book on the basis of earlier editions with addition of local texts. The main text of the Russian Edition consists of 70 sections. In the late 13th-14th centuries there appeared its Volhynia Copy, which spread on Ukrainian and Belarusian lands. The so-called Kharkov Copy was held in the 15th-16th centuries at St. John the Divine’s Monastery in Polotsk and in the 18th century at Zhirovichi Monastery. The third Rumyantsev Copy was held in the 18th-19th centuries by the Old-Believers of Vetka. The copies of the Serbian Edition on Ukrainian and Belarusian lands (over ten copies survived) prevailed over the copies of the Russian Edition (three exemplars).

The internal situation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stabilized with the beginning of the rule of Casimir Jagiellon (Jagiellonczyk) in 1440. This was furthered by the Privilege of 1447 (in historical literature often dated 1457, because of the loss of the seal). Its publication took place in Vilna the day before Casimir Jagiellon’s departure for Poland to be crowned as a Polish king. One of its goals was to strengthen the Duchy’s sovereignty within the personal union with Poland. The privilege became the first attempt of law codification in the Grand Duchy. This was a relatively large document which regulated personal and property rights of feudal lords, Catholic priests and town dwellers in the GDL. In this privilege, prepared by the GDL magnates, Casimir Jagiellon pledged to retain territorial integrity of the GDL and return lands captured by the Poles after Vitovt’s death. The Catholic Church of the GDL confirmed its earlier privileges. A separate group of articles concerned the judicial system. Personal immunity was confirmed to feudal lords and townspeople, so they might be penalized after the public trial only. Criminal responsibility was laid on the guilty person only, not on his relatives or servants. Princes and boyars were allowed to travel to other countries (except the hostile ones), continuing to fulfill duties for the Grand Duke. Feudal lords confirmed their right to freely administer their family and service estates, including the right to hand them down to their sons and daughters. The widows of princes and nobles acquired the right of ownership of the estate of the deceased husband, and in case of the repeated marriage the estate passed to children or relatives of the first husband. The estates of princes and nobles enjoyed exemption from silver tax, tax in kind, cart duty, procurement of building materials etc. The Grand Duke pledged not to accept to his estates peasant refugees who left the estates of princes, nobles and town dwellers, provided that the private estate holders would do the same with the state peasants. This was an important step for universal enslaving of peasants in the GDL. The Grand Duke granted princes, nobles and town dwellers the right to judge their subjects by themselves and to collect court fines for themselves; the grand-ducal legal officer would join the law suit if the accused did not appear before the Landowners Court. The Grand Duke promised not to appoint foreigners to posts and not to give them the estates in the GDL. This rule was directed against the Polish nobility, who attempted to strengthen their positions in the GDL following the conclusion of the state union.

The feudal rules in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania strengthened even more with the publication of a new Privilege by the Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellonzcyk in 1492. Alexander’s privilege became the major state act in the Grand Duchy before the first Statute was adopted in 1529. This privilege systematizes the foundations of the state system in the Grand Duchy and fixes the rights of the nobility as a ruling class in the state. The first 13 articles confirm the earlier juridical norms (Privilege of 1447), which gave personal and property privileges to the clergy (the text does not say whether the whole clergy or the Catholics only) and to the feudal lords (in one case their Catholic denomination is indicated). The Grand Duke pledged once again to secure the territorial integrity of the Grand Duchy and to return lands earlier controlled by Vitovt, and he guaranteed the union agreements earlier signed with neighboring states and participation of magnates (great landowners) in the formation of foreign politics. The other articles also emphasized the importance of magnates in governing the state and legalized the major role of the Council of Lords (Pany-Rada) as the highest collegiate body. The Grand Duke pledged not to change court verdicts adopted by him together with magnates, not to change administrative decisions adopted together with landowners, and not to give posts and estates in the Duchy to foreigners. The privilege guaranteed that magnates permanently held state posts and could lose them in an independent lawsuit only. The Lords of the Council were guaranteed to participate in appointments to posts and in expenditure of state funds. Much place in the privilege was given to the judicial system. The Grand Duke promised not to interfere in the affairs of the ecclesiastical court and not to bring civil cases to the court; to examine legal cases unfinished by his father; to observe objectivity in lawsuit; not to postpone examination of major cases, for which four legal sessions were convened a year. The feudal lords confirmed their right to inherited estates. The Grand Duke pledged not to put the commoners above the noblemen. A regulated procedure was established to collect taxes and arrears.

Simultaneously with the strengthening of the feudal order in the center, similar processes occurred in local places. As early as the 14th century, Grand Dukes began to issue the so-call regional privileges – legal documents of local importance for land, province (voivodeship), district (county). We know the regional privileges of Polotsk from 1486, 1499, 1511, 1547, 1580, 1589, 1593 and the regional privileges of Vitebsk from 1481, 1503, 1509, 1541, 1547, 1561, 1576, 1582, 1592. They address a wide strata of local residents – lords, nobility, boyars, townspeople, Orthodox clergy, peasants. But their basic tendency was to strengthen the property and juridical status of the nobility at the expense of townspeople and peasants. The 1440 regional privilege of Novgorod was not continued in the further legislation. The area of Belarus was also partially covered by the regional privileges of Smolensk from 1453, 1505, 1513, regional privileges of Kiev from 1507 and 1529, and privileges of Podlasie from the 15th-16th centuries.

In 1468 the Grand Duke Casimir adopted the Code of Law (Sudebnik), which is considered the first codification of penal law and criminal procedure law in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Composed of 25 articles, the Code of Casimir made an attempt to unify punishments for crimes against property, primarily of feudal lords. Sharp disputes arise about the area of coverage of the Code. Some researchers assume that it covered the whole area of the Grand Duchy. The others believe that the Code acted in proper Lithuania and north-western lands of Belarus, i.e. in the area not embraced by the regional privileges of the Grand Duchy.

In the late 14th century, towns in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to obtain privileges of the Magdeburg Law – municipal self-government. Vilna (Wilno, Vilnius) was the first to receive this privilege in 1387, then followed Berestye (Brest) in 1390, Gorodnya (Grodno) in 1496, Polotsk in 1498, Mensk (Minsk) in 1499, etc. Towns with the Magdeburg Law had municipal self-government with administrative and judicial functions and the town council (magistrate) composed of burgomaster and council members. The head of the town was Voyt (Lord Mayor), usually appointed by the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but in time towns achieved the right to elect the Voyt themselves. Town self-government was, however, also controlled by the nobility; the highest juridical instance in towns was the Landowners Court (later the Assessorial Court), which consisted of landowners and nobles. The number of towns with the Magdeburg Law continually increased. Thus, in the area of present-day Belarus in the 14th century there was only one town with the Magdeburg Law – Brest, in the 15th century – four towns more (Grodno, Polotsk, Minsk, Porozovo), in the 16th century – 18 towns more, and in the first half of the 17th century – another 20 towns. After the war with Russia in 1654-1667 Belarusian towns lapsed into years of stagnation.

Towns which did not obtain the Magdeburg Law had their own systems of law. As a rule, the Grand Duke adopted the statutes which regulated the local rules: town administration, court, tax collection, duties, trade, artisan crafts etc. The statutes were also given to volosts – administrative and territorial units of lower level which united the rural population in a certain district.

The law in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was systematized in the 16th century in three Statutes (1529, 1566 and 1588). The Statute of 1529 is a code of 13 sections and 244 articles (the number of articles increased to 283 with later additions). Sections 1-3 mainly comprise the norms of state law and basic provisions of other branches of law; sections 4 and 5 – marriage, family, guardianship and inheritance law; section 6 – procedure law; section 7 – criminal law; section 8 – land law; section 9 – forestry and hunting law; section 10 – civil law; sections 11-13 – penal law and criminal procedure law. Thus, the 1529 Statute covered all major sides of life in the state and became the first actual code of law in the history of Belarus. Written in Old Belarusian, the 1529 Statute was translated into Polish and Latin.

The Second Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was introduced in 1566. Composed of 14 sections and 367 articles, it was more voluminous than the first statute. Some articles in the 1529 Statute were much reworked, changed and amended; many juridical norms were included for the first time. The 1566 Statute comprised full texts of general privileges of the GDL – the 1563 Privilege of Vilna, the 1564 Privilege of Belsk and the 1565 Privilege of Vilna, which considerably modified the legal system in the GDL. In particular, a new administrative and territorial division was introduced in the state: voivodeships (palatinates, provinces) were divided into local districts (povets, powiats) with new organs of power – the nobility’s sejmiks (dietines, local assemblies) and the courts of land, castle and chamber. The national body of power – Sejm (Diet, Parliament), for which the nobility elected two deputies (envoys) from each district, was becoming increasingly important.

Treaties with neighboring countries had a great influence on internal life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first major international agreement in the Duchy was the Treaty of 1323, concluded by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gedimin with the Master of the Livonian Order, the Danish vicegerent in the land of Revel, bishops of Riga, Ezel and Derpt, and the community of Riga. The treaty established peace relations between the countries, proclaimed free trade by land and water, a fair trial of disputes, return of property taken from merchants without permission, and return of runaway serfs.

The activity of the Grand Duchy in the northern direction resulted in signing the Treaty of 1338 between Gedimin and the Livonian Order. The document fixed a border area between the states, in which peace to be always maintained; merchants were allowed to free travel to the neighboring state and along the whole river Dvina. The treaty also established a judicial procedure to examine civil and criminal cases. In the eastern direction the Grand Duchy had major relations with the Moscow state. The Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd (Algirdas) concluded treaties with Moscow princes in 1349, 1352, 1354-1356. A series of hostilities between the Grand Duke Olgerd and Moscow in 1368, 1370 and 1372 ended in the Peace Treaty of 1372, which divided the domains of the both states.

The most important among further treaties with Moscow was the Treaty of 1449, concluded by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir and the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II the Dark. The treaty fixed the state border, and Casimir pledged not to claim for Novgorod and Pskov. Actually this treaty stopped the territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the east, signifying its refusal from the unification of all Eastern Slavic lands within its borders.

In the late 15th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania engaged in an armed confrontation against the military pressure of Muscovy. The war of 1492-1494 ended in a treaty that sanctioned the transfer of the Upper-Oka duchies and Vyazma under the control of Moscow. The war of 1500-1503 ended in an armistice that sealed the loss of Bryansk, Gomel, Chernigov and many other towns for the GDL. The next war (1507-1508) ended in the treaty of eternal peace, which secured the earlier established borders. This, however, appeared to be not eternal at all. The continuing war of 1512-1522 ended in the loss of Smolensk for the GDL and the next armistice. In the war of 1534-1537 the GDL succeeded to return Gomel with its environs. The resulting armistice was repeatedly extended until a new, long war began in 1558, known as the Livonian War. However, hostilities affected not only Livonia, but also northern and eastern regions of Belarus. The Truce of Yam-Zapolsky was signed with Moscow in 1582, now not by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, already formed in the course of the war. Belarus failed to return its north-eastern territories, this question being solved in wars with Russia in the 17th century.

Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Union of Lublin of 1569

In many respects changes in the state system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania carried out in the 1560s on the Polish model were dictated by the plans to unite the Grand Duchy with the Polish kingdom in a new union, which was caused by the evident extinction of the Jagiellon dynasty (the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the King of Poland Sigismund Augustus had no children). The union question was repeatedly discussed by various government institutions in both countries, but the final push was given by the Livonian War with the Moscow state in 1558-1583, which the Grand Duchy was unable to conduct with its own forces. At the Diet of Lublin in 1569 the ambassadors of both states decided to create a unified state – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with a common legislative organ (Sejm, Diet, Parliament) and an elected single monarch entitled King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The right to elect the monarch and envoys to the Diet was secured only for the nobility, who received exclusive juridical rights in the newly-created state. At the same time the Grand Duchy remained a separate state structure with its own government, laws, army and treasury.

Lithuanian magnates (great landowners), dissatisfied with the Union of Lublin, partially won back their positions with the adoption of the 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which did not even mention the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the Third Statute there was a greater number of articles (up to 488), and many legal norms were improved. Unlike the first two statutes, the 1588 Statute came out in print. In the 17th-18th centuries, several editions of the Statute were published in Polish and in 1811, in Russian. The 1588 Statute remained in force on Belarusian lands for a very long time, up to 1840.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – nominally a monarchy but factually the nobility’s republic with a life-elected monarch – an important role was played by the Diet (Sejm) as a legislative organ. The regular Diets were called each two years and if needed more often. The passed laws (constitutions) came out in print and their collections were released as well. In the 18th century the Piarist Order undertook unofficial publication of the laws of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the title «Volumina Legum» (Lat., Volumes of Laws). Volumes 1-6 (Acts of 1347-1736) came out in 1732-1739, volumes 7-8 (Acts of 1764-1780) – in 1782. A new edition of «Volumina Legum» was published in eight volumes in Petersburg in 1859-1860. Volume 9 (Acts of 1782-1792) in Cracow in 1889, Volume 10 (with materials of the 1793 Diet of Grodno) in Poznan in 1952.

From its deputies (envoys) and senators the Diet formed the Diet Court, which had the functions of the higher court in the state to examine the most important, universal questions. Among these were insult of his majesty, infringement of state power, high treason, riots, mismanagement of state finances, violence at the Diet, counterfeiting, misappropriation of the title and coat of arms, looting of churches etc.

The other important court instance in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the Great Lithuanian Tribunal (GDL Tribunal). This was the highest appeal court for the nobility. It was composed of judges (deputies) elected annually by the nobility at the dietines (sejmiks, regional assemblies), two from each district. The Tribunal sessions initially took place in Vilna and Trakai (for the area of Vilna and Trakai provinces and Samogitia), Novogrudok and Minsk (for the remaining part of the GDL), and from the late 16th century – in Vilna and alternately in Novogrudok and Minsk, from 1755 – in Vilna and Grodno. Sessions usually lasted no more than 12 weeks, and then judges moved to the other town. In addition to judicial functions, the Tribunal fulfilled notary functions: it certified testaments, property and money agreements, etc. In the 18th century the political importance of the Tribunal sharply increased as the Diet often did not work, being paralyzed by the struggle of various magnate groups.

The Assessorial Court remained the highest appellate court for residents in Lithuanian towns with the Magdeburg Law and for peasants on state (royal) estates.

Peasants on private estates were judged by their landlords-noblemen.

Therefore, up to the late 18th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (and Belarus as its part) had a branched system of legal institutions and the appropriate juridical system, which has been estimated by scholars as one of the most perfect in Europe of that time. Of great importance was the Constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth passed by the Diet on 3 May 1791, which significantly democratized the political and legal system of the state. However, the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth held in the late 18th century by Russia, Prussia and Austria put an end to the existence of the Commonwealth and the Grand Duchy as its part.

Belarusian towns at the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to use self-government based on the Law of Magdeburg. Nevertheless, the economic and political role of towns after the war with Russia in 1654-1667 greatly decreased. The decline was felt in the loss of town population, degradation of artisan crafts and trade, predominance of magnates (great landowners) in towns, who dictated their will to town councils. In the second half of the 17th century, only one Belarusian township managed to obtain the Magdeburg Law, and by the mid-18th century – eight more. The decline of towns resulted that the Diet of the Commonwealth in 1776 totally deprived the state-owned small towns of the Magdeburg rights: in Belarus the Magdeburg Law remained only in Brest, Volkovysk, Grodno, Lida, Minsk, Mozyr, Novogrudok and Pinsk, and also in the privately-owned towns and boroughs. The town life revived at the end of the 18th century. During the Four-Year Diet in 1788-1792, many towns and boroughs in Belarus restored their Magdeburg Law or received this for the first time. The Diet of 18 April 1791 adopted the law “On free towns in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”, which announced all residents in state towns as free persons with the right to private ownership of property.

Military conflicts between Poland and Russia continued through the 17th century. The first in a long series was the war of 1609-1618. According to the Truce of Deulino in 1618, the lands of Smolensk came to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In attempt to return Smolensk, Russia began the so-called Smolensk War of 1632-1634, which ended in her defeat. However, the concluding Peace Treaty of Polyanovka in 1634 (another “perpetual peace”) failed to prevent the new war. The continuous war of 1654-1667 greatly struck Belarus and drastically deteriorated the situation of the Belarusian population. The war ended in signing the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, by which Russia held Smolensk region and Left-bank Ukraine with Kiev. The eventual “perpetual peace” of 1686 fixed the established borders and left numerous captured property and prisoners in Russia. The significant importance was that Russia acquired the right to protect Orthodox believers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which later became an instrument for interfering in its internal affairs.

In the Northern War of 1700-1721 Belarus was involved through the expansionist policy of King Augustus II, who pursued his own goals in foreign policy as Kurfurst (Prince Elector) of Saxony. The 1704 Treaty of Narva with Russia stipulated the joint actions of Poland and Russia against Sweden and her allies. As the main prize Poland expected to win the Baltic states, earlier captured by Sweden. But after the war the Baltics came to Russia, who strengthened her rule in Eastern Europe.

The whole 18th century went under the sign of Russia’s dominance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The allies of the Tsar’s government were Polish-Lithuanian magnates, who blocked any attempts to democratize the social and political system in the Commonwealth. The Diet of 1767-1768 adopted the document containing the so-called Cardinal rights, which was attached to the 1768 treaty with Russia. The Cardinal Rights announced the eternal union of the Polish kingdom and the Grand Duchy and inviolability of nobles’ liberties. According to the treaty the Russian Empress Catherine II was proclaimed the guarantor of stability of the government form, constitutions, liberties and rights in the Commonwealth. The treaty prohibited the Diet, unless by unanimous consent, to introduce taxes, to change army staff, coin prices, ministerial and senatorial powers, the procedure of diets and dietines, and to conclude international agreements.

In 1768, patriotically minded activists in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, dissatisfied with the establishment of Russia’s protectorate, launched a movement for the revival of independence, spearheaded by the Confederation of Bar. Russia strengthened its military presence in the Commonwealth and after many years of struggle defeated the Confederation. This caused the beginning of the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Russian Empire after the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772

During the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, carried out by Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1772, the Russian Empire annexed the north-eastern territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the rivers Dnieper, Drut and Dvina, with the area of 92 000 sq km and the population of 1,300 000 men. The Annexation Manifesto declared the preservation of rights and property for all estates and confessions. However, soon there began the conversion of the Greek Catholic population to Orthodoxy. The szlachta (gentry and minor nobility) were made subordinate to the Russian local and central administration, whom they could not elect as it was earlier. The annexed Belarusian area received a new administrative division (governorates, provinces, districts) and local government bodies. The governorate centers were the seat of governors and province chancelleries. New courts were appointed in each governorate, province and local district. A judicial system of district commissars was introduced to command a wide circle of local affairs. Administrative methods began to decide many cases and disputes, which were earlier solved by elected judicial bodies. The Government Senate was the highest court instance for the remaining courts. The nobility was prohibited to hold dietines (local sejmiks) and later the provincial assemblies of the nobility. Police increased control over the tax paying population; passport control was introduced. To control the population and execution of duties, a number of censuses and revisions were conducted in 1773, 1782, 1794 and the General Survey in 1783-1785, during which some strata of earlier free inhabitants were announced serfs. In towns the former government bodies, based on the Law of Magdeburg, were replaced by the town magistrates and other organs with limited rights.

The Russian administrative and judicial bodies were also enforced on territories added to the Russian Empire during the Second Partition of the Commonwealth, conducted by Russia and Prussia in 1793. Russia annexed the area of central Ukraine and central Belarus (with the towns of Borisov, Minsk, Slutsk, Nesvizh, Turov, Pinsk); in all, 250 000 sq km and 13 million population.

During the Third Partition of the Commonwealth, carried out by Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1795 after the suppression of the revolt led by Tadeush Kostyushko (Tadeusz Kosciuszko), the Russian Empire annexed western areas of Belarus and part of Lithuanian and Ukrainian lands (in all, 120 000 sq km).