THE CHURCH COURT IN DUŠAN’S CODE Cover Image

ЦРКВЕНИ СУД У ДУШАНОВОМ ЗАКОНИКУ
THE CHURCH COURT IN DUŠAN’S CODE

Author(s): Stefan Stojanović
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, History of Law
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Нишу
Keywords: church court; Middle Ages; Dušan’s Code; Serbian medieval law; Byzantine law

Summary/Abstract: The church court is a special court in the system of several different types of courts that existed in the legal order of the Serbian medieval state. Dušan’s Code is the most important historical legal document and the constitution of medieval Serbia, which established the legal position of the Serbian Orthodox Church, provided for the administrative and economic immunities of the church, and instituted the church court. The rights guaranteed in Dušan’s Code were enjoyed by the church not only because of its religious, spiritual and socio-humanistic functions but, above all, because of its political role in medieval Serbia.The paper aims to present the norms of Dušan’s Code regarding the church court and analyze them from the perspective of legal history, in order to establish the jurisdiction of the church court, the types of adjudicated cases and the protection of the exclusive right of the church to judge in disputes within its jurisdiction.

  • Issue Year: LVII/2018
  • Issue No: 81
  • Page Range: 487-495
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Serbian