Statutes of Lithuania

The Statutes of Lithuania are three 16th century legal codifications of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, issued in 1529, 1566 and 1588, originally written in Ruthenian and later translated into Latin and Polish. Described as the first full code of laws written in Europe since Roman law, they drew on Ruthenian law, old Slavic custom, noble privileges and Magdeburg rights. The first statute was initiated under the Lithuanian Council of Lords, the second was ordered by King Sigismund II Augustus, and the third, edited by Chancellor Lew Sapieha and the first to be printed, established that the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth functioned as a federation with separated powers, ensuring rule of law for the nobility, and the statutes remained in force until Russian authorities abolished them in 1840. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/