Genesis of Cossack Law in Ukraine (16-th – first half of the 17-th centuries)

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to find out the genesis of Cossack law and its implementation in Ukrainian society in the 16 – first half of the 17 cetury. The research methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, problem-chronological, historical-systemic. Scientific novelty: for the first time in domestic historiography, it is studied the origins of Cossack law as specific norms of relations inside the Sich community and its spread in the Ukrainian society of that time. Main results: it is proved that, having originated on the basis of customary norms in individual communities, Cossack law found its development in the life of Zaporozhian Sich in the second half of the 16-th century. A sign of such phenomenon was the introduction of the position of judge as an important Kosh government official. Later, it began to be used in the volosti during the unfolding of mass rebel movements in the process of conducting the Cossack judiciary. In peacetime Cossack law was also used by local otamans of the registered troop. The spread of its application was conditioned by the development of the liberation movement in Ukraine in the 20s and 30s of the 17 century., when a large part of it was under the rule of rebellions for some time. The oral form of Cossack law creates certain obstacles in its study, as there is no direct documentary evidence of the procedure of judicial proceedings using specific rules of law at the stage of genesis. At the same time, the available sources give all grounds to claim that during the 16 – first half of the 17 century. it has become an important factor in the life of Ukrainian society.