{"id":172038,"date":"2019-08-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/?page_id=172038"},"modified":"2019-08-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T00:00:00","slug":"legal-foundations-of-administration-in-belarusian-lands-in-the-14th-18th-centuries-overview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/welcome-to-the-archives-of-belarus-website\/subject-guides-to-archival-records\/historical-events\/archival-documents-and-materials-4\/legal-foundations-of-administration-in-belarusian-lands-in-the-14th-18th-centuries-overview","title":{"rendered":"Legal foundations of administration in Belarusian lands in the 14th-18th centuries (overview)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\nLegal system in Belarusian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the Union of Lublin of 1569
\r\nLegal system in Belarusian lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Union of Lublin of 1569<\/a>
\r\nLegal system in Belarusian lands in the Russian Empire after the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n

\r\nThe Belarusian ethnic lands in the 14th-18th centuries formed a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania<\/b> (full name from the mid-15th century \u2013 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus \r\n(Ruthenia) and \r\nSamogitia; abbr. GDL, in Russian transliteration VKL) \u2013 an east-European \r\nmultiethnic state, a federation in the early period of its existence and \r\nconfederation with the Kingdom of Poland following the Union of Lublin of 1569 \r\n(the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), which ceased to exist after its \r\nannexation by the Russian Empire with the status of provinces. <\/o:p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n

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

\r\n

Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the Union of Lublin of 1569<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Founded in the 13th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stood on a strong foundation of cultural, social and economic \r\nachievements of the previous epoch. As a heritage from the \r\nPolotsk-Turov period \r\nof Belarusian history the Grand Duchy received solid juridical resources. This mainly \r\nincluded Pilot Books<\/b> (Kormchaia\r\nKniga) \u2013 extensive collections of church and civil \r\nlaws used in deciding a wide variety of legal and administrative cases (not only church-related). \r\nThey originate from Nomocanons \u2013 the Byzantine codes of law which included \r\nresolutions of ecumenical and local councils, the Emperor\u2019s decisions on \r\nchurch matters, extracts from various legal codes. \r\nAt the end of the 12th \r\ncentury on the Athos in Greece, a special edition of the pilot book was \r\ncompiled, which was translated into the Old Russian language in Serbia in the first half of \r\nthe 13th century, assuming the name of the Serbian Edition. About 30 copies of \r\nthis book of Belarusian, \r\nUkrainian and Russian origin have survived from the 13th to 19th \r\ncenturies. The Serbian Edition became especially widespread in the 15th-16th \r\ncenturies in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The so-called \r\nRumyantsev Copy was created in the last quarter of the \r\n15th century in the\r\nTurov-Pinsk \r\nEparchy, and it was rewritten in one collection with the statutes of Princes \r\nVladimir and Yaroslav and the 1468 Law Code of the \r\nGDL. This testifies that the Serbian pilot book was regarded as an active legal \r\ncode at that time. The Pinsk Copy of 1634 includes inserts in the Belarusian \r\nlanguage about \r\nthe Councils. In the 1260s-1270s in Rus there appeared the Russian pilot book on \r\nthe basis of \r\nearlier editions with addition of local texts. \r\nThe main text of the Russian Edition consists of 70 sections. In the late \r\n13th-14th centuries there appeared its Volhynia Copy, which spread on Ukrainian and Belarusian \r\nlands. The so-called Kharkov Copy was held in the 15th-16th centuries at St. John the Divine’s \r\nMonastery in\r\nPolotsk and in the 18th century at \r\nZhirovichi Monastery. The third \r\nRumyantsev Copy was held in the 18th-19th \r\ncenturies by the Old-Believers of Vetka. The copies of the Serbian Edition on \r\nUkrainian and Belarusian lands (over ten copies \r\nsurvived) prevailed over the copies of the Russian Edition (three exemplars).

<\/p>\r\n\r\nWith the foundation and development of the Grand \r\nDuchy of Lithuania in the 13th-14th centuries,new \r\njuridical acts<\/b> were created to comply with new historical processes. After the Grand Duke \r\nof Lithuania Jagailo (Jagiello) concluded \r\n the Union of Krevo (Krewo) \r\nin 1385<\/b>, the Grand Duchy united with the Polish Kingdom in a single \r\nstate. To strengthen \r\nthe Union and the Catholic Church in the Grand Duchy, \r\nJagailo issued\r\n\r\na charter in 1387<\/b>, \r\ngranting certain privileges to Lithuanian boyars similar to those of the Polish \r\nnobility. A wide circle of the Duchy’s nobility were \r\nhowever discontent with the Union of Krevo, and Prince Vitovt (Vytautas) \r\ntook the advantage to head the \r\nstruggle for the renewal of state independence in the Duchy. As a result, the \r\nruling circles of Poland and Lithuania signed \r\nthe Union of Vilna and Radom<\/b> \r\nin <\/strong>\r\n1401<\/b> and \r\nthe Union of Horodlo <\/b>\r\nin \r\n1413<\/b>. The \r\n1413 Charter of Horodlo, issued jointly by Jagailo and Vitovt, expanded the \r\nrights of the Duchy’s boyars, who received the opportunity to use the coats \r\nof arms of the Polish nobility. \r\nAfter the death of Vitovt in 1430, who sought to turn the Duchy into a kingdom, the \r\nwar began between various feudal groups with different views on the \r\nstate system in the Duchy and the union with Poland in particular. One of the groups, led by \r\nthe Grand Duke Sigismund (Zhigimont) Keistutovich, concluded a \r\nnew union with the Polish kingdom (the so-called \r\nUnion of Horodno and Trakai of 1432-1433<\/b>). To \r\nsecure the support of \r\nOrthodox nobles in the Duchy, the Grand Duke Jagailo \r\nsanctioned the publication of \r\ntwo privileges in 1432 and 1434<\/b>, which in many \r\nrespects equated the rights of Orthodox nobles with those of the Catholics. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n

The internal situation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stabilized with the \r\nbeginning of the rule of Casimir Jagiellon (Jagiellonczyk) in 1440. This was \r\nfurthered by the Privilege of 1447<\/b> (in historical literature often dated 1457, because of the loss of the \r\nseal). Its publication took place in Vilna the day before Casimir Jagiellon’s \r\ndeparture for Poland to be crowned as a Polish king. One of its goals was \r\nto strengthen the Duchy’s sovereignty within the personal union with Poland. The \r\nprivilege became the first attempt of law codification in the Grand Duchy. This was a \r\nrelatively large document which regulated personal and property rights of \r\nfeudal lords, Catholic priests and town dwellers in the GDL. In this privilege, prepared by \r\nthe GDL magnates, Casimir Jagiellon pledged to retain territorial integrity \r\nof 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. \r\nPersonal immunity was confirmed to feudal lords and townspeople, so they might be penalized after the public trial \r\nonly. Criminal responsibility was laid on the guilty person only, not on his relatives or servants. \r\nPrinces and boyars were allowed to travel to other countries (except the hostile \r\nones), continuing to fulfill duties for the Grand Duke. Feudal lords confirmed their right to freely \r\nadminister their family and service estates, including the right to hand them down to \r\ntheir sons and daughters. The widows of princes and nobles acquired the right of \r\nownership of the estate of the deceased husband, and in case of the repeated \r\nmarriage the estate passed to children or relatives of the first husband. \r\nThe estates of princes and nobles enjoyed exemption from silver tax, tax in kind, cart duty, procurement of building materials etc. \r\n 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 \r\nestate holders would do the same with the state peasants. This was an important step for universal enslaving of \r\npeasants in the GDL. The Grand Duke granted princes, nobles and town dwellers the right to judge their subjects by themselves \r\nand to collect court fines for themselves; the grand-ducal legal officer would join the \r\nlaw suit if the accused did not appear before the Landowners Court. The Grand Duke promised not to \r\nappoint foreigners to posts and not to give them the estates in the GDL. This \r\nrule was directed against the Polish nobility, who attempted to strengthen \r\ntheir positions in the GDL following the conclusion of the state union.

<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The feudal rules in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania strengthened even more with the publication of a new Privilege<\/b> \r\nby the Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellonzcyk in 1492<\/b>. Alexander\u2019s privilege became \r\nthe major state act in the Grand Duchy before the first Statute was adopted in 1529. This \r\nprivilege systematizes the foundations of the state system in the Grand Duchy and fixes \r\nthe rights of the nobility as a ruling class in the state. The first 13 articles \r\nconfirm the earlier juridical norms (Privilege of 1447), which gave personal \r\nand property privileges to the clergy (the text does not say whether the whole clergy \r\nor the Catholics only) and to the feudal lords (in one case their Catholic denomination is indicated). \r\nThe Grand Duke pledged once again to secure the territorial integrity of the Grand \r\nDuchy and to return lands earlier controlled by Vitovt, and he \r\nguaranteed the union agreements earlier signed with neighboring states and \r\nparticipation of magnates (great landowners) in the formation of foreign politics. The other \r\narticles 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 \r\ncollegiate body. The Grand Duke pledged not to change court verdicts adopted \r\nby him together with magnates, not to change administrative decisions adopted \r\ntogether with landowners, and not to give posts and estates \r\nin the Duchy to foreigners. \r\nThe privilege guaranteed that magnates permanently held state posts and could lose them in an independent lawsuit only. The Lords \r\nof the Council were guaranteed to participate in appointments to posts and in expenditure of state funds. \r\nMuch place in the privilege was given to the judicial system.\r\nThe Grand Duke promised not to interfere in the affairs of the ecclesiastical court \r\nand not to bring civil cases to the court; to examine legal cases unfinished by his \r\nfather; to observe objectivity in lawsuit; not to postpone examination of major \r\ncases, for which four legal sessions were convened a year. The feudal lords \r\nconfirmed their right to inherited estates. The Grand Duke pledged not to \r\nput the commoners above the noblemen. A regulated procedure was established to collect taxes and arrears.<\/p>\r\n

Simultaneously with the strengthening of the feudal order in the center, similar processes occurred in local places. \r\nAs early as the 14th century, Grand Dukes began to issue the so-call regional privileges \u2013 legal documents of local \r\nimportance for land, province (voivodeship), district (county). We know\r\nthe regional privileges of Polotsk from 1486, 1499, 1511, 1547, 1580, 1589, 1593 and the regional privileges of Vitebsk from 1481, 1503, 1509, 1541, 1547, \r\n1561, 1576, 1582, 1592. <\/b>They address a wide strata of local residents \u2013 lords, \r\nnobility, boyars, townspeople, Orthodox clergy, peasants. But their basic tendency was to strengthen the property and juridical \r\nstatus of the nobility at the expense of townspeople and peasants. The 1440 regional privilege of Novgorod <\/b>was not continued in \r\nthe 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 \r\nfrom the 15th-16th centuries<\/b>.

<\/p>\r\n

In 1468<\/b> the Grand Duke Casimir adopted the Code of Law <\/b>\r\n(Sudebnik), which is considered the first codification of penal law and criminal procedure law in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. \r\nComposed of 25 articles, the Code of Casimir made an attempt to unify punishments \r\nfor crimes against property, primarily of \r\nfeudal lords. Sharp disputes \r\narise about the area of coverage of the Code. Some \r\nresearchers assume that it covered the whole area of \r\nthe Grand Duchy. The others believe that the Code acted in proper Lithuania and north-western lands of Belarus, i.e. in the area not \r\nembraced by the regional privileges of the Grand Duchy. <\/p>\r\n

In the late 14th century, towns in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to obtain privileges of<\/b> \r\nthe Magdeburg Law<\/b> \r\n\u2013 municipal self-government. Vilna (Wilno, Vilnius) \r\nwas the first \r\nto receive this \r\nprivilege in 1387, then followed Berestye (Brest) in 1390, Gorodnya (Grodno) \r\nin 1496, Polotsk in 1498, Mensk (Minsk) in 1499, etc. Towns with the \r\nMagdeburg Law had \r\nmunicipal self-government \r\nwith administrative \r\nand judicial functions and the town council (magistrate)\r\ncomposed of burgomaster and council members. \r\nThe head of the town was Voyt (Lord Mayor), usually appointed by the Grand Duke of Lithuania, \r\nbut in time towns achieved the right to elect the Voyt themselves. Town \r\nself-government was, however, \r\nalso controlled by the nobility; the highest \r\njuridical instance in towns was the Landowners Court (later the Assessorial Court), which consisted of \r\nlandowners and nobles. The number of towns with the Magdeburg Law continually \r\nincreased. \r\nThus, \r\nin the area of present-day Belarus \r\nin the \r\n14th century there was only one town with the Magdeburg Law \r\n\u2013 Brest, in the 15th century \u2013 four towns more (Grodno, Polotsk, Minsk, Porozovo), in the 16th century \r\n\u2013 18 towns more, and in the first half of the 17th \r\ncentury \u2013 another 20 towns. After the war with Russia in 1654-1667 Belarusian \r\ntowns lapsed into years of stagnation.<\/p>\r\n

Towns which did not obtain the Magdeburg <\/b>Law \r\nhad their own systems of law. As a rule, the Grand Duke adopted the statutes which regulated the local \r\nrules: town administration, court, tax collection, duties, trade, artisan crafts etc. The \r\nstatutes were also given to volosts \u2013 administrative and territorial units of \r\nlower level which united the rural population in a certain district.

<\/p>\r\n

The law in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was systematized in the 16th century in three Statutes (1529, 1566 and 1588). \r\nThe Statute of 1529<\/b> is a code of 13 sections and 244 articles (the number of \r\narticles increased to 283 with later additions). Sections 1-3 mainly comprise \r\nthe norms of state law and basic provisions of other branches of law; sections 4 and 5 \u2013 marriage, \r\nfamily, guardianship and inheritance law; section 6 \u2013 procedure law; section 7 \u2013 \r\ncriminal law; section 8 \u2013 land law; section 9 \u2013 forestry and hunting law; \r\nsection 10 \u2013 civil law; sections 11-13 \u2013 penal law and criminal procedure \r\nlaw. Thus, the 1529 Statute covered all major sides of life in the state \r\nand became the first actual code of law in the history of Belarus. Written in Old Belarusian, the 1529 Statute was translated into Polish and \r\nLatin.

<\/p>\r\n

The Second Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania<\/b> was introduced in 1566<\/b>. \r\n \r\nComposed of 14 sections and 367 articles, it was more voluminous than the first \r\nstatute. Some articles \r\nin the 1529 Statute were much \r\nreworked, changed and amended; many juridical norms were included for the first \r\ntime. The 1566 Statute comprised full texts of general privileges of the GDL \r\n\u2013 the 1563 Privilege of Vilna, the 1564 Privilege of Belsk and the 1565 \r\nPrivilege of Vilna, \r\nwhich considerably modified the legal system in the GDL. In particular, a new \r\nadministrative and territorial division was introduced in the state: voivodeships \r\n(palatinates, provinces) were divided into \r\nlocal districts (povets, powiats) with new organs of power \u2013 the nobility’s sejmiks \r\n(dietines, local assemblies) and the courts of land, castle and chamber. \r\nThe national body of power \u2013 Sejm (Diet, Parliament), for which the nobility elected two \r\ndeputies (envoys) from each district, \r\nwas becoming increasingly important.

<\/p>\r\n

Treaties with neighboring countries <\/b>had a great influence \r\non internal life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first major international \r\nagreement in the Duchy was \r\nthe Treaty of 1323<\/b>, concluded by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gedimin with the Master of \r\nthe Livonian Order, the Danish vicegerent in the land of Revel, bishops of Riga, Ezel \r\nand Derpt, and the community of Riga. The treaty established peace relations \r\nbetween the countries, proclaimed free trade by land and water, a fair trial of \r\ndisputes, return of property taken from merchants without permission, \r\nand return of runaway serfs.

<\/p>\r\n

The activity of the Grand Duchy in the northern direction resulted in signing \r\nthe Treaty of 1338 between Gedimin and the Livonian Order. The document fixed a \r\nborder area between the states, in which peace to be\r\nalways maintained; merchants were allowed to free travel to the \r\nneighboring state and along the whole river Dvina. \r\nThe treaty also established a judicial procedure to \r\nexamine civil and criminal cases. \r\n\r\nIn the eastern direction the Grand Duchy had major relations with the Moscow state. The \r\nGrand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd (Algirdas) concluded \r\ntreaties with Moscow princes in 1349, 1352, 1354-1356. <\/b>\r\nA series of hostilities between the Grand Duke Olgerd and \r\nMoscow in 1368, 1370 and 1372 ended in the<\/strong> \r\nPeace Treaty of 1372<\/b>, which divided \r\nthe domains of the both states.

<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe most important among further treaties with Moscow \r\nwas the<\/strong> Treaty of 1449<\/strong>, concluded by the Grand Duke of \r\nLithuania Casimir and the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II the Dark. The treaty \r\nfixed the state border, and Casimir pledged not to claim for Novgorod and \r\nPskov. Actually this treaty stopped the territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy \r\nof Lithuania to the east, signifying its refusal from the unification of \r\nall Eastern Slavic lands within its borders. <\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn \r\nthe late 15th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania engaged in an armed confrontation \r\nagainst \r\nthe military pressure of Muscovy. The war of 1492-1494<\/b> \r\nended in a treaty that sanctioned the transfer of the Upper-Oka \r\nduchies and Vyazma under the control of Moscow. The war of 1500-1503<\/b> ended in an armistice that sealed the loss of Bryansk, Gomel, Chernigov \r\nand many other towns for the GDL. The next war (1507-1508<\/b>) ended in the <\/b> \r\ntreaty of eternal peace,<\/b> which secured the earlier established borders. \r\nThis, however, appeared to be not eternal at all. The continuing war of 1512-1522<\/b> \r\nended in the loss of Smolensk for the GDL and the next armistice. In the war \r\nof 1534-1537<\/b> the GDL succeeded to return\r\nGomel with its environs. The resulting armistice was repeatedly extended until a new, \r\nlong war \r\nbegan in 1558, known as the Livonian War. However, hostilities affected not only \r\nLivonia, but also northern and eastern regions of Belarus. T<\/strong>he<\/strong> \r\nTruce of Yam-Zapolsky<\/b> was signed \r\nwith Moscow in 1582, <\/b> now not by the Grand \r\nDuchy of Lithuania, but by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, already formed in the \r\ncourse of \r\nthe war. Belarus failed to return its north-eastern territories, this question \r\nbeing solved in wars with Russia in the 17th century.
\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n

<\/a> \r\nLegal system in Belarusian lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Union of Lublin of 1569<\/font><\/strong>
\r\n<\/p>\r\n

In many respects changes in the state system of the Grand Duchy of \r\nLithuania carried out in the 1560s on the Polish model were dictated by the \r\nplans to unite the Grand Duchy with the Polish kingdom in a new union, \r\nwhich was caused by the evident extinction of the Jagiellon dynasty (the Grand Duke of \r\nLithuania and the King of Poland Sigismund Augustus had no children). The union question \r\nwas repeatedly discussed by various government institutions in both countries, \r\nbut the final push was given by the Livonian War with the Moscow \r\nstate in 1558-1583, which the Grand Duchy was unable to \r\nconduct with its own forces.\r\nAt the Diet of Lublin in 1569 <\/strong>the ambassadors of both \r\nstates decided to create a unified state \u2013\r\nthe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/strong> \r\nwith a common legislative organ (Sejm, Diet, Parliament) and an elected single monarch \r\nentitled King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The right to elect \r\nthe monarch and envoys to the Diet was secured only for the nobility, who \r\nreceived exclusive juridical rights in the newly-created state. At the same time the Grand Duchy \r\nremained a separate state structure with its own government, laws, army and \r\ntreasury. \r\n <\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Lithuanian \r\nmagnates \r\n(great landowners), dissatisfied with the Union of Lublin, partially won back their \r\npositions with the adoption of the 1588 Statute of \r\nthe Grand Duchy of Lithuania<\/strong>, which did not\r\neven \r\nmention the creation of the \r\nPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the Third Statute there was a \r\ngreater number of \r\narticles (up to 488), and many legal norms were improved. Unlike the first two \r\nstatutes, the 1588 Statute came out in print. In the 17th-18th centuries, \r\nseveral editions of the Statute were published in Polish and in 1811, in \r\nRussian. The 1588 Statute remained in force on Belarusian lands for a very long time, \r\nup to 1840. \r\n
\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n

In the \r\nPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth \u2013 nominally a monarchy but \r\nfactually the nobility’s republic with a life-elected monarch \u2013 an important \r\nrole was played by the Diet (Sejm) as a legislative organ. The regular \r\nDiets were \r\ncalled each two years and if needed more often. The passed laws (constitutions) \r\ncame out in \r\nprint and their collections were released as well. In the 18th century \r\nthe Piarist Order undertook unofficial publication of the \r\nlaws of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/strong> under the title \u00abVolumina \r\nLegum\u00bb<\/strong> \r\n(Lat., Volumes of Laws). Volumes 1-6 \r\n(Acts of 1347-1736) came out in 1732-1739, volumes 7-8 (Acts of 1764-1780) \u2013 in \r\n1782. A new edition of \u00abVolumina \r\nLegum\u00bb was published in eight volumes in Petersburg in 1859-1860. Volume 9 \r\n(Acts of 1782-1792) in Cracow in 1889, Volume 10 (with materials of the 1793 \r\nDiet of Grodno) in Poznan in 1952. \r\n <\/p>\r\n

From its deputies (envoys) and senators the Diet formed the Diet Court, \r\nwhich had the functions \r\nof the higher court in the state to examine the most important, \r\nuniversal questions. Among these were insult of his majesty, infringement of \r\nstate power, high treason, riots, mismanagement of state finances, violence \r\nat the Diet, counterfeiting, misappropriation of the title and coat of arms, \r\nlooting of churches etc. \r\n <\/p>\r\n

The other important \r\ncourt instance in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the Great Lithuanian Tribunal<\/strong> \r\n(GDL Tribunal). This was the highest appeal court for the nobility. \r\nIt was composed \r\nof judges (deputies) elected annually by the nobility at the dietines (sejmiks, regional \r\nassemblies), two from each district. The Tribunal sessions \r\ninitially took place in Vilna and Trakai (for the area of Vilna and Trakai \r\nprovinces and Samogitia), Novogrudok and Minsk (for the remaining part of the GDL), \r\nand from the late 16th century \u2013 in Vilna and alternately in Novogrudok and \r\nMinsk, from 1755 \u2013 in Vilna and Grodno. Sessions usually lasted no more than 12 \r\nweeks, and then judges moved to the other town. In addition to \r\njudicial functions, the Tribunal fulfilled notary functions: it \r\ncertified testaments, property and money agreements, etc. In the 18th \r\ncentury the political importance of the Tribunal sharply increased as the \r\nDiet often did not work, being paralyzed by the struggle of various magnate groups. \r\n <\/p>\r\n

The Assessorial Court <\/strong>\r\nremained the highest appellate court for residents in Lithuanian towns \r\nwith the Magdeburg Law and for peasants on state (royal) \r\nestates.<\/p>\r\n

Peasants on private estates were judged by \r\ntheir landlords-noblemen<\/strong>.\r\n <\/p>\r\n

Therefore, up to the late 18th century the Grand \r\nDuchy of Lithuania (and Belarus as its part) had a branched system of legal institutions and \r\nthe appropriate juridical system, which has been estimated by scholars as one of the \r\nmost perfect in Europe of that time. Of great importance was the<\/strong>\r\nConstitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/strong> \r\npassed by the Diet on 3 May 1791<\/strong>, which significantly \r\ndemocratized the political and legal system of the state. However, the \r\nPartitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth held in the late 18th \r\ncentury by Russia, Prussia and Austria put an end to the existence of the \r\nCommonwealth and the Grand Duchy as its part.<\/p>\r\n

Belarusian \r\ntowns at the time of the <\/strong>\r\nPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/strong> \r\ncontinued to use self-government based on the Law of Magdeburg<\/strong>. \r\nNevertheless, the economic and political role of towns after the war with Russia \r\nin 1654-1667 greatly decreased. The decline was felt in the loss of town population, degradation of artisan crafts and trade, \r\npredominance of magnates (great landowners) in towns, who dictated their will to town \r\ncouncils. In the second half of the 17th century, only one Belarusian township \r\nmanaged to obtain the Magdeburg Law, and by the mid-18th century\r\n\u2013 \r\neight more. The decline of towns resulted that the Diet of \r\nthe\r\nCommonwealth in 1776 totally deprived \r\nthe state-owned small \r\ntowns of the Magdeburg rights: in Belarus the Magdeburg Law \r\nremained only in Brest, Volkovysk, Grodno, Lida, Minsk, Mozyr, Novogrudok and \r\nPinsk, and also in the privately-owned towns and boroughs. The town life revived \r\nat the end of \r\nthe 18th century. During the Four-Year Diet in 1788-1792, many towns \r\nand boroughs in Belarus restored their Magdeburg Law or received this for the \r\nfirst time. The Diet of 18 April 1791<\/strong> adopted the law \r\n“On free towns in the <\/strong>\r\nPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”<\/strong>, which announced all \r\nresidents in state towns as free persons with the right to private ownership of \r\nproperty. <\/p>\r\n

Military conflicts between \r\nPoland and Russia continued through the 17th century. The first in a long series \r\nwas the war \r\nof 1609-1618. \r\nAccording to the Truce of Deulino in 1618,<\/strong> the lands of Smolensk came \r\nto the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In attempt to return Smolensk, Russia \r\nbegan the so-called Smolensk War of 1632-1634, which ended in her defeat. \r\nHowever, the concluding \r\nPeace Treaty of <\/strong>\r\nPolyanovka in 1634<\/strong> (another “perpetual peace”) failed to prevent \r\nthe new war. The continuous war of 1654-1667 greatly struck \r\nBelarus and drastically deteriorated the situation of the Belarusian population. \r\nThe war ended in signing the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667<\/strong>, by \r\nwhich Russia held Smolensk region and Left-bank Ukraine with Kiev. The eventual\r\n“perpetual peace” of 1686<\/strong> fixed the established borders and left \r\nnumerous captured property and prisoners in Russia. The significant importance was that \r\nRussia acquired the right to protect Orthodox believers in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, \r\nwhich later became an instrument for interfering \r\nin its internal affairs.\r\n <\/p>\r\n

In the Northern \r\nWar of 1700-1721 Belarus was involved through the expansionist policy of King \r\nAugustus II, who pursued his own goals in foreign policy as \r\nKurfurst\r\n\r\n(Prince Elector) of Saxony. The \r\n1704 Treaty of Narva<\/strong> with Russia stipulated the joint actions of Poland \r\nand Russia against Sweden and her allies. As the main prize Poland expected to win \r\nthe Baltic states, earlier captured by Sweden. But after the war the Baltics came to Russia, who strengthened her rule in Eastern Europe.<\/p>\r\n

The whole 18th \r\ncentury went under the sign of Russia’s dominance in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. \r\nThe allies of the Tsar’s government were Polish-Lithuanian magnates, who \r\nblocked any attempts to democratize the social and political system in the \r\nCommonwealth. The Diet of 1767-1768 adopted the document containing \r\nthe so-called Cardinal rights<\/strong>, which was attached to the 1768 \r\ntreaty with Russia<\/strong>. The Cardinal Rights announced the eternal union of \r\nthe Polish kingdom and the Grand Duchy and inviolability of nobles’ \r\nliberties. According to the treaty the Russian Empress Catherine II was \r\nproclaimed the \r\nguarantor of stability of the government form, constitutions, liberties and rights in the \r\nCommonwealth. The treaty prohibited the Diet, unless by unanimous consent, to \r\nintroduce taxes, to change army staff, coin prices, ministerial and senatorial \r\npowers, the procedure of diets and dietines, and to conclude international \r\nagreements. \r\n <\/p>\r\n

In 1768,<\/strong> \r\npatriotically minded activists in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, \r\ndissatisfied with the establishment of Russia’s protectorate, launched a movement \r\nfor the revival of independence, spearheaded by the Confederation \r\nof Bar.<\/strong> Russia strengthened its military presence in the \r\nCommonwealth and after many years of struggle defeated the Confederation. \r\nThis caused the beginning of the Partitions \r\nof <\/strong> the Polish-Lithuanian \r\nCommonwealth<\/strong>.
\r\n
\r\n<\/p>\r\n

<\/a>\r\n Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Russian Empire after the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1772<\/font><\/strong>
\r\n <\/p>\r\n

During the First Partition of the\r\nPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, carried out by Russia, \r\nPrussia and Austria in 1772<\/strong>, the Russian Empire annexed \r\nthe north-eastern territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the rivers Dnieper, Drut and Dvina, with \r\nthe area of 92 000 sq km and the population of 1,300 000 men. The \r\nAnnexation<\/strong> Manifesto <\/strong>declared the \r\npreservation of rights and property for all estates and \r\nconfessions. However, soon there began \r\nthe conversion of the Greek Catholic population to Orthodoxy. The szlachta \r\n(gentry and minor nobility) were made \r\nsubordinate to the Russian local and central administration, whom they could not \r\nelect as it was earlier. The annexed Belarusian area received a new \r\nadministrative division (governorates, provinces, districts) and local \r\ngovernment bodies. The governorate centers were the seat of governors and \r\nprovince chancelleries. New courts were appointed in each governorate, province \r\nand local district. A judicial system of district commissars was introduced to \r\ncommand a wide circle of local affairs. Administrative methods began to decide \r\nmany cases and disputes, which were earlier solved by elected judicial bodies. The Government Senate was the highest court instance \r\nfor the remaining courts. The nobility was prohibited to hold dietines (local sejmiks) and later the provincial \r\nassemblies of the nobility. Police increased control over the tax paying \r\npopulation; passport control was introduced. \r\nTo control the population and execution of duties, a number \r\nof censuses \r\nand revisions were conducted in 1773, 1782, 1794 and the General Survey in \r\n1783-1785, during which some strata of earlier free inhabitants were announced serfs. In towns the \r\nformer government bodies, based on the Law of Magdeburg, were replaced by the town \r\nmagistrates and other organs with limited rights. <\/p>\r\n

The Russian administrative and judicial \r\nbodies<\/strong> were also enforced on territories added to the Russian \r\nEmpire during the Second Partition of the Commonwealth, conducted by Russia and Prussia\r\nin 1793<\/strong>. Russia annexed the area \r\nof central Ukraine and central Belarus (with the towns of Borisov, Minsk, Slutsk, \r\nNesvizh, Turov, Pinsk); in all, 250 000 sq km and 13 million population. <\/p>\r\n

During the Third Partition of the Commonwealth, carried out \r\nby Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1795<\/strong> after the suppression of the revolt led by Tadeush Kostyushko (Tadeusz \r\nKosciuszko), the Russian Empire annexed western areas of Belarus and part of Lithuanian and \r\nUkrainian lands (in all, 120 000 sq km). <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania before the Union of Lublin of 1569 Legal system in Belarusian lands in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Union…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":577522,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-172038","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/172038\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/577522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}