2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The Pskov judicial charter is a well-known memorial of medieval law, presumably created in Pskov in 1397 (this information is indicated in the document itself). It describes the provisions of Russian legislation relating to the judicial and criminal system of those times. After studying it, you can learn about the many intricacies of the judicial process or about the pen alties applied for certain violations.
Pskov Judicial Letter: General Description
The document is divided into two main parts, which, in turn, consist of several sections. The first part is devoted to the court: its types are listed, the order of the court is described, the description of court evidence and fees is given.
And the second part contains information about criminal offenses, rules for lending and inheritance, trading and drafting contracts.
Let's analyze the most interesting moments.
Pen alties
Fines were imposed for robbery, fighting, theft, robbery and murder. The amount of money depended on the status of a person: for a boyar it was fifty rubles, for a "living man" - twenty, and for a "young man" - ten.
There were three types of fines mentioned in the Pskov Judicial Charter: sale (a fine to the prince's treasury), compensation for damage to the victim or his relatives, and court fees. The amount was quite large for those times - poor people most often did not have so much money, which made them dependent on the more affluent segments of the population: merchants, boyars, usurers.
State crimes
The document mentions a list of especially grave state crimes. This is high treason, invasion of the hall of a judicial institution, bribery, insulting an official. All of them were punished very effectively - the death pen alty.
For less serious offenses, only one type of punishment was supposed - a variety of monetary fines. This allows us to notice that the criminal law according to the Pskov Judicial Letter was more compensatory than punitive in nature.
Types of Court
The court of the prince and the mayor
These two offices were interconnected: neither could judge without the presence of the other. They were representatives of two principles - state and zemstvo, which were inextricably linked. The competence of this court included tatba and golovshchina, robbery, battle and robbery.
Pskov elected judges considered cases of employment, loans, inheritances, purchases, as well as land ownership. The prince participated in this process.
The Sovereign Viceroy de alt with the cases of clergy and those who belonged to the church department. Of the secular personalities, it was attended by two bailiffs appointed by the society. Lawsuits between church people and non-church people were de alt with by the sovereign governor and zemstvo judges.
With the help of the brotherhood's court, disputes and cases that arose at the brotherhood's feast were resolved. The court was carried out by the elected prince of the feast and judges on the basis of folk customs. Only those who were satisfied obeyed his decision, and the rest could transfer the claim to the general court.
At the vecha court, all decisions were made only by the whole community. The prince and the governor were not allowed to visit him. However, the letter does not say which cases he considered. Most likely, issues that concerned the entire city, as well as those that could not be resolved by other means, were sorted out.
in document.
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