The Ancient Rzeczpospolita highest judicial bodies in the justice system of the royal estates (on the example of the Sambir economy of the XVIth – XVIIIth centuries)

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to characterize the justice model’s functioning at the highest levels of the judicial bodies in the Ancient Rzeczpospolita in the context of everyday legal practice in the royal estates (in particular, Sambir economy). The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, scientificity, verification, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical (historical-typological, historical-systemic) methods. The scientific novelty is that for the first time the Ancient Rzeczpospolita highest judicial bodies activity was revealed through the prism of everyday practices in the field of a separate administrative and economic object’s justice system, in this case – Sambir economy, part of the royal estates of the Ancient Rzeczpospolita. The Conclusions. The royal estates’ population and administration (in particular, the Sambir economy) used the courts of higher instance actively, appealing to them directly, or appealing against the decisions of the local courts. The most popular was the Crown Court of Referendum, less often people turned to the Crown Court of Assessors. Some issues could be considered by the field commissions set up by the King’s order in order to consider certain issues. Finally, the ’Grodzki’ courts (Sąd Grodzki) of Przemyśl Land, Lublin Crown Tribunal, and Radom Tribunal were involved in resolving the controversial cases. disputes. The practice of appeals to these courts was created at the turn of the XVIth – XVIIth centuries, but for a long time it remained disordered and uncoordinated. The Crown Treasury Commission was established in the XVIIIth century and took control over appeals to various courts.