EVOLUTION OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN UKRAINIAN LANDS: FROM THE PRINCELY ERA TO THE JUDICIAL REFORMS OF THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive historical and legal analysis of the formation and evolution of the judicial system on Ukrainian lands from

 the 9th to the end of the 16th century. The purpose of the study is to examine the transformation of judicial institutions from early state forms of princely power to a branched system of specialized estate courts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The authors provide a detailed analysis of the initial phase of the national judiciary's development during the Kyivan Rus period, where the judicial function was inseparable from the administrative activities of the prince and his officials. Particular attention is paid to the 14th–16th centuries, when the Ukrainian legal field became an arena for the interaction of Old Rus traditions with Western European legal concepts. The study explores the process of separating justice from administration, which was most clearly manifested in the creation of Gentry (Zemsky) courts,representing the first example of an independent judicial branch in Ukrainian territories. The competence and operational procedures of the Grod (Castle) and Podkomorsky (Sub-chamberlain) courts are detailed, and the persistence of the Kopny court institute as a unique element of direct democracy is emphasized. The role of the three Statutes of Lithuania in codifying the law of the time and consolidating procedural guarantees, in particular the institutions of appeal and complaints against judges, is analyzed. The study substantiates the conclusion that the judicial system of this period, despite its estate-based nature, demonstrated a high level of democratism through the gentry's participation in the formation of the judicial corps and the preservation of non-estate community courts. The research materials are of practical importance for understanding the genesis of the national legal tradition in the context of the modern development of the rule of law in Ukraine.