Pskov Judicial Charter

The Pskov Judicial Charter was the legal code of the Pskov Republic, issued in successive versions between 1397 and 1467 and surviving in 120 articles through two copies, the Synodal Copy published by the historian Nikolai Karamzin in 1812 and the more complete Vorontsov Copy published by Nikolai Murzakevich in 1847. It addressed property protection, feudal land ownership, commercial transactions, inheritance, criminal procedure, and the legal status of peasants, and prescribed capital punishment for political crimes and other serious offenses. Although its preamble refers to 1397, evidence including references to cathedral buildings not yet standing that year indicates the final version was completed between about 1462 and 1471. Scholars regard it as the most important piece of legislation between the earlier Russkaya Pravda and the later Sudebnik of 1497, which it served as a principal source for, making it a crucial link in the development of Russian law. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/