The Middle Ages Legislation

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a polyethnic country with the majority of the Belarusians and minorities of the Zhamoity, the Ukrainians, and the Polish.

The Belarusians-Lithuanians were characterized by democracy founded in the community traditions of the Polatsk principality of the times of Rahvalod and Usiaslau Charadzei. Democracy led to the spirit of freedom, formed moral and legal views on independence and understanding of personal values. These very principles were the basis for the principal legislation documents of the Duchy and, first of all, of the Statute book – The Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Three versions of The Statute are known – of 1529, 1566 and 1588. The third version, considered to be the most perfect, was compiled by the best lawyers supervised by oustanding politicians of the Middle Ages, Chancellor of the GDL Astafei Valovich and his follower Leu Sapieha.

The Statute of 1588 was the most perfect collection of legislation documents in Europe at that lime. The third Statute book was in force for two and a half centuries until 1840. It was intelligible because of being written in vernacular Belarusian. Meanwhile, Roman law with its principal ideas in Latin prevailed in the majority of European countries at that time, and Latin was not clear for common people. Every state document in the GDL was written in Belarusian. This can be easily proved by the archives of the Duchy called the Metric of the GDL. It numbers 600 volumes of state documents which were removed to Russia, and are now kept in Moscow.

With the Statute as the basis for a legal state, not personal will but government, ruled by law, was established. The Statute of 1529 was adopted as the only law for everyone in the GDL. According to the Statute of 1566 the major and minor nobility, middle classes, and peasants became citizens enjoying their full rights. The Duke's power was restricted by state institutions, such as Soim and Rada. The power was divided into legislative, executive, and judicial.

The Grand Duchy Statute of 1588 is rightfully considered to be a classical example of legislation of the Middle Ages. It confirmed the sovereignty of the Duke, established social and political systems of the state, rights and duties of the people, and the principles of a legal system. The Statute officially declared religious tolerance and was responsible for every person's rights, with no connection to his social position and faith. The Grand Duke was obliged to guard the borders of the Duchy and try to return the lost lands. The criminal law was worked out in details, and the presumption of innocence was introduced. The Statute of 1588 seems to be the first European code which sought to protect nature.

The third version of the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was translated into Polish, Russian, German, and some other languages. It had a considerable influence on the legislation systems of Poland. Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia.

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