«U prava moviti i spravedlivosti dovoditi»: the Institute of Protection in the 1560–1570-ies int the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Andrii Blanutsa
Candidate of Historical Sciences (Ph.D. in History), Senior Research Fellow,
Institute of History of Ukraine of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine, Kyiv),
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/ul2015.03.088
Abstract
The article deals with the wide range of the questions connected with formation of institute of protection in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (henceforce – the GDL) in 1560 – 1570-ies. Institute of protection is a terminological designation of institute of protection in sources, competence of judicial officials under precepts of law of the grand duke, realization of norms of protection in jurisprudence on the example of land disputes between nobles and princes. It is proved that formation of institute of protection lasted long time with gradually increasing of the lawyers’ powers in court practice, which were fixed in the Second Lithuanian Statute. Documents of the Lithuanian Metrica are a valuable source for studying of institute of the legal profession in the GDL and on the Ukrainian lands in its structure. This institute was fixed by the Second Lithuanian Statute, but more broad application got from the middle of the 1560-ies, with the beginning of judicial reform in the GDL. The analyzed documents of the Lithuanian Metrica give the grounds to speak about that formation of institute of professional lawyers was in this period. At the same time, functions of lawyers continue to carry out persons who didn’t get the status of the professional lawyer. They are authorized to carry out legal action disposable or in certain case. Lawyers of the reformation period mostly were called «umotsovanny» in the sources and very seldom designated by the term «friend» [«priyatel»]. The term «procurator» which used for lawyers designation in the Second Lithuanian Statute wasn’t applied during this period. It gained distribution in the later period and was widely used in district [«povet»] judicial documentation.
Keywords
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Second Lithuanian Statute, judicial officers, landowning, nobles.
Archives
Российский государственный архив древних актов [Russian State Archive of Early Acts].
References:
- Blanutsa, A. (2007). Zemelni volodinnia volynskoi shliakhty v druhii polovyni XVIst. Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy. [in Ukrainian].
- Starchenko, N. (2002). Umotsovani – prokuratory – pryiateli. Khto vony? (stanovlennia instytutu advokatury na Volyni v kintsi XVI Sotsium. Almanakh sotsialnoi istorii, (1), 111–144. [in Ukrainian].