Professionalization of the land courts (iudex terrestris) in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1565–1764)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lithuanian land courts in the years 1565–1763 consisted of three-person teams of judge, podsędek (deputy judge), and court clerk. These offices were held for life. At election sejmiks, nobles nominated candidates for each office, and the king appointed one of them. From 1566, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania contrasted with the lands of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, because an exception allowed the nobility to independently promote a previous podsędek or clerk to a judge. This phenomenon resulted in the professionalization of the land courts’ staff, whereby junior members of the team learned the procedure and provisions of the law from the more experienced judge. In addition, the political culture of the nobility improved, since they took unanimous decisions in the name of the local community’s good.