thumb|181px|The first statute, 1529thumb|The third statute, 1588thumb|right|181px|Polish reprint, 1744thumb|181 px|commemorative coin dedicated to the First Statute's 475th anniversary/" class="wiki">Litas
commemorative coin dedicated to the First Statute's 475th anniversary
The
Statutes of Lithuania originally known as the
Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (
Lithuanian:
Lietuvos statutai,
Polish:
Statuty litewskie) were a 16th century
codification 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 Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 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, and 1588) all written in
Ruthenian, translated into
Latin and later
Polish. They formed the basis of the legal system of the Grand Duchy. The main purpose of the First Statute was to standardise and collect various
tribal and customary laws in order to
codify them as a single document.
The First Statute was drafted in 1522 and came into power in 1529 by the initiative of the
Lithuanian Council of Lords. It has been proposed that the codification was initiated by
Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radziwiłł as a reworking and expansion of the
Casimir Code. The first edition was redrafted and completed by his successor
Albertas Goštautas, who assumed the position of the
Grand Chancellor of Lithuania in 1522.
The second statute went into effect in 1566 by the order of
King of Poland and
Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Sigismund II Augustus , and was larger and more advanced. The
Grand Duke did this because of pressure from the
Lithuanian nobility, 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 Council of Lords.
The Third Statute was accepted in 1588, modifying the laws in response to the
Union of Lublin, which created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Statutes 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. As a token for being acknowledged as Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Sigismund III Vasa revised the Union of Lublin and approved the Third Lithuanian Statute.
Another group often opposing the Statutes 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 April 1698 in the document
Porządek sądzenia spraw w Trybunale Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskego.
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 of Lithuania 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,
Sobornoye Ulozheniye, was rewritten according to Lithuania's Statutes. After forming an association with
Poland—including both the dynastic union (1385–1569) and the confederated statehood (1569–1795)—the Lithuanian Statutes were the Grand Duchy'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.
Notes and references
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.
See also
