Attempts at Codification of the Polish Crown Law in the ‘Noblemen Republic’ Between the 15th and 17th Centuries

Abstract

The author focuses on the activity toward the codification of old-Polish law between the 15th and 17 centuries. The Author discussed the achievements of codification that gained the official status and were included among sources of statutory law. Unfortunately, their count is not impressive; one can identify only two of them: Łaski Statut and Formula Processus. Separately, other works on codifications, undertaken from an initiative of state authorities – the General Diet (Sejm Walny) or the king, were presented. Those attempts were prominent in the first half of the 16th century but failed ultimately. Many were transformed, sometimes even against their creators’ wishes, into private initiatives. Authors of individual
codification projects often hoped that the General Diet would eventually accept their proposals to become the cannon of statutory law. Those plans fell apart, and individual projects were not accepted as official legal sources but were popularised in private collections. Finally, the author shortly discusses the old-Polish research on the law created during the analyzed period. They were prepared as private collections of legal acts or attempts at proper old-Polish law descriptions. They represented various content, structure, and quality. The aim of their creation was mainly practical – to serve the daily works of the justice system. The other sources analyzed by the author were particular – local and fragmentary sources
of the law. Their enactments were caused by the failure of attempts to accept the complete codification of old-Polish civil and criminal law.