Statutes of Lithuania

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The first statute, 1529

The Fifth edition, 1744

The Statutes of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės statutai, Belarusian: Статуты Вялікага княства Літоўскага, Polish: Statuty litewskie) were a 16th century collection of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The statutes were important as, at that time, unlike the Polish-Lithuanian Union, most European countries were absolute monarchies that did not invest as much authority in legislative bodies or seek to codify their acts.

The statutes consist of three legal codes (1529, 1566, 1588) all written in Ruthenian, which formed the basis of the legal system for the Grand Duchy. The first statute was created in 1522 and came into power in 1529 by the initiative of the nobles' council. Most of the work was carried out by Albertas Goštautas. The basic aim of that first statute was to standardise and collect various tribal and traditional laws in order to codify them as a single document.

The second statute went into effect in 1566 by the order of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund I the Old (Lithuanian: Žygimantas Senasis, Belarusian: Жыгімонт Першы Стары, Polish: Zygmunt Stary), and was larger and more advanced. The King did this because of pressure from the Lithuanian nobles, as the expansion of nobles' rights since the publication of the first statute had made it redundant. The second statute was prepared by a special commission, consisting of ten members, appointed by the Grand Duke and the nobles' council.

The third statute was accepted in 1588, altering the laws in response to the Union of Lublin, which created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Statues of Lithuania were supported by Lithuanian magnates, as they granted them special powers and privileges allowing them to keep the lesser Lithuanian nobility in check.

Another group often opposing the Statues was the Polish nobility, which viewed the statutes of Lithuania as unconstitutional, because at the signing of Union of Lublin it was said that no law could conflict with the law of Union. The Statutes, however, declared the laws of the Union that conflicted with them to be unconstitutional. Statutes of Lithuania were also used in territories of Lithuania annexed by Poland shortly before Union of Lublin. These conflicts between statutory schemes in Lithuania and Poland persisted for many years.

Attempts to limit the power of Lithuanian magnates (especially the Sapiehas' family) led to the koekwacja praw movement, culminating in the koekwacja reforms of the election sejm of 1697 (May-June), confirmed in the general sejm of 1698 (April) in the document Porządek sądzenia spraw w Trybunale Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskego.^[1]

Copies of the statutes used to be kept in each powiat (district) so they could be used and seen by each person desiring to do so.

The Statutes were a sign of the progressive European legal tradition, and were cited as precedent in Polish and Livonian courts, furthermore in 1649 the Russian legal code was rewritten according to Lithuania's Statutes. After forming a union with Poland—including both the personal (dynastic) epoch (1385-1569) and the epoch of confederated statehood with Poland (1569-1795)—the Lithuanian Statutes were the Grand Dutchy's greatest expression of independence. In 1791, efforts were made to change the system and do away with the privileges of the nobility, creating a constitutional monarchy with a modern citizenry. However, these plans came to naught when Russia, abetted by Austria and Prussia, destroyed the Polish-Lithuanian state, although leaving the Lithuanian Statutes in effect in Lithuania until 1840.

[edit] Note

↑ see Jerzy Malec, Szkice z dziejów federalizmu i myśli federalistycznych w czasach nowożytnych, Wydawnictwo UJ, 1999, Kraków, ISBN 83-233-1278-8, Part II, Chapter I Koewkwacja praw.