The Enforcement of Criminal Provisions of the Statutes of Lithuania in the Castle Court Practice of the 2nd Half of the 16th Century – 1st Half of the 17th Century

Abstract

By means of the legal sources of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Second Statute and the Third Statute, as well as the district castle court books, the article addresses the practical enforcement of the legal norms after being passed into the hands of the noble society. It is concluded that the relationship of the supreme authority with the suspect and the victim, laid down in the Statutes, and the enforcement of these legal provisions were partly diverged. The application of laws and their interpretations were determined by the noble mentality. To enforce laws successfully, a state structure, which would handle the delivery of the suspect to the court or at least the presentation of the convicted person for serving/executing the sentence, was severely lacking. In practice, it was left for each nobleman to be handled as a matter of honor. However, the concept of noble honor would gradually become limited with the declaration of personal rights and freedoms. After the nobility already had class-based courts, the nobles themselves refused to obey the judgements that were not in their favor. Also, the noble society was not always capable of controlling its representative. On the contrary, conditions used to be created to avoid the punishment established in laws through arbitration courts or friendly agreements. On the other hand, the district courts that were also represented by the same nobles would often act in favor of the nobility and its exceptional role in respect of other social classes.