Final Theses of Students of Faculty of Law in Lithuania: 1925-1939

Abstract

The study examines the final students’ theses of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lithuania (later – Vytautas Magnus University), which was the only one university during the interwar period in Lithuania. Thus, it was the only place where lawyers were prepared. The research is based on the different branches of law, considering structure, literature, legal acts, jurisprudence students used in their theses, and the Lithuanian legal language of that time. The most valuable and interesting quotes of students are presented, the teachers who assessed their works are named, and the fates of the students and teachers are revealed. The research covers over five hundred students’ final theses written between 1925 and 1939. Namely, such a number of final theses are held in the Department of Manuscripts of Vilnius University Library. Noteworthy that around one thousand students graduated in law during the interwar period in Lithuania. Each of this thesis was reviewed in the series of four articles published in the Lithuanian language (Deviatnikovaitė, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d). This article summarizes all four articles and presents final conclusions. The theses reveal not only how the Faculty of Law educated lawyers, but also the legal topicalities of Lithuania at that time. Students wrote about various issues of civil, criminal, administrative, constitutional, labour, and international law. Historical, comparative, and analytical methods were used in the research.