The Echo of Historical Lithuanian Grand Duchy in Modern Law of Lithuania

Abstract

Upon reinstitution of the Lithuanian state in the beginning of the twentieth century, some people reflected back to the times where Lithuanian law had European significance. However, it was concluded that the latter would not satisfy the needs of a modern state. The change in times made the continuation of the legal tradition impossible. Yet it was also impossible to put faith into fast creation of the essentially new Lithuanian legal system. Therefore, it was decided to accept a foreign system that was in place before the First World War – that of the Russian Empire.
The law of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy (LGD) had an impact on the Russian law during the course of history. The most important channel was the reception of the Lithuanian Statute into the Sobor Code of 1679, which later resulted in the codex of the Russian Empire. The latter was also supplemented by the norms from the Lithuanian Statute relating to some exceptions in various regions covered. Some norms were imported purely for the purpose of renewal of the Russian legislation.
The reception of the Russian law in the independent Lithuanian state meant that together with it Lithuania had accepted historical norms from the Lithuanian Statute. In that manner, the modern Lithuanian law was related to the historical law of the LGD.