Search

This paper aims to present the procedural treatise Parvus ordinarius as a valuable object for research into the history of the ecclesiastical judiciary in medieval Bohemia. One manuscript of the Parvus ordinarius, currently stored under the signature VIII.G.5 in the Prague National Library in Klementinum, serves as the source base for the study. There is good reason to believe that this very codex played a role in the judicial practice in the Czech lands in the (pre-)Hussite period. Firstly, we know from the ownership note that it once belonged to Pavel of Slavíkovice, a liberal arts bachelor at the University of Prague, who worked as a notary and became a criminal judge of the clergy in Prague before 1436. Secondly, the Prague version of Parvus ordinarius met the needs of the domestic legal environment thanks to the gloss added to the treatise in the first half of the 14th century. These remarks written down by an unknown jurist have not been edited so far and thus have escaped the attention of scholars. Of all the content of the Parvus ordinarius, the focus is on the appeal, seen as a merge of traditions of both Roman and ecclesiastical law. As argued in the text, the chosen topic is a great starting point not only for multidisciplinary collaboration between lawyers and historians of different specializations but also for the search for links between the functioning of the judiciary in the past and the present.

The incorporation of the Bill of Rights against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment belongs among the most complex topics of American constitutional law. The first question to ask is obviously “Was the Bill of Rights incorporated against the states with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment?” Even if we answer this essential and difficult question in the affirmative, we face another one, no less important, which is: Through which of the clauses of section one of the Fourteenth Amendment was incorporation implemented? Among the proponents of the incorporation theory we find two groups: one that advocates incorporation through the privileges or immunities clause and another one that supports incorporation through the due process clause or the so called doctrine of substantive due process. Substantive due process is one of the phenomenons of American constitutional law that influenced legal evolution in the United States in a fundamental way, mainly during the 20th century when the concept of substantive due process experienced a steep rise that manifested itself not only in the area of protection of rights and freedoms not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, but also those clearly mentioned in the amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. It was the very substantive due process doctrine which was used by the federal Supreme Court as basis for gradual incorporation of the individual guarantees contained in the Bill of Rights to state and local level. It is, however, necessary to ask whether the Supreme Court, while trying to reach this goal, did not embrace a doctrine which lacks basis in the text of the Constitution and the traditions of the common law, thus being only an artificial creation of the Supreme Court itself as to this day, many suggest. This paper deals with the origins, historical meaning and evolution of the concept of due process and tries to show whether the substantive due process doctrine has a real legal foundation and can therefore serve as means for incorporation of the Bill of Rights.

In this article, attention is paid to the examination of the criminal law provisions that regulated the punishment of riotous acts in socialist Czechoslovakia, with an emphasis on the application of the criminal offence of rioting by the District Court for Prague 1. In addition to the common cases of rioting, cases with political overtones and the possibility of abusing the crime of rioting against people who were inconvenient to the regime (dissidents) are also included. The first chapters generally address the legal regulation of riotous offences since the fifties. The fifties are also supplemented with contemporary cases. The article’s core consists of subsequent chapters focusing on the regulation of rioting according to § 202, codified in the Criminal Code of 1961. For a better understanding of the legal regulation at that time, there are cases from the then-practice, which were handled by the District Court for Prague 1. The following part pays attention to riotous acts that accompanied the opposition to the regime at that time, and the last subchapter points out the misuse of the crime of rioting and the distortion of its factual essence by the then-state against its opponents.

The aim of the study is to show the consequences for the Hungarian Piarist Order stemming from the ecclesiastical reforms of Joseph II. (r. 1765–1790). Both Maria Theresa (r. 1740–1780) and her son, Joseph II wanted to restructure and re-regulate the relationship between church and state. The wide-ranging reforms introduced during their reigns affected social, economic, cultural, judicial and legal life, as well as education. The Church and its different branches like the religious orders (ordo regularis) were the cohesive elements of this program: as a kind of supranational institution, it was the responsibility of the ecclesiastical administration to introduce, operate and control it. Without the state-church structure, the system as a whole would have remained dysfunctional. In fact, in relation to the objectives of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, we should not speak primarily of church reform, but of the modernization or centralization program of the multi-ethnic Habsburg monarchy. The Piarists are considered the most committed supporters of the 18th-century reform spirit, who, as a teaching order, also incorporated the new scientific achievements of the time into the education of the youth. The activities of the Piarists received great support from Maria Theresa and Joseph II, who entrusted them with the creation of many new educational institutions. Paradoxically, this relationship of trust almost led to the dissolution of the Order in the Josephine decade, when the Emperor sought to exploit the Piarists by dissolving the Order and employing its members in the state. This was ultimately hampered by scarce financial resources, but the existential fear of dissolution and the loosening of the order’s ties led many religious (lat. religiousus) to leave the community and continue their careers as diocesan priests or lay teachers.

The Roman law doctrine res extra commercium has excluded certain objects from civil-legal transactions, some of which were related to divine service or otherwise religious purposes. The Roman law doctrine designated them as res divini juris, which referred to all the objects dedicated to the Gods. The theory of res divini juris developed predominantly in civil law jurisdictions based upon the basis of the old Roman law doctrine, and could be found in legal literature, textbooks, legislation and, case law. Since the times of the Ancient Rome, the attitude to the legal status of res divini juris gradually alterated, as well as the scope of its encompassment. Despite being formally excluded from any civil-legal transactions, such objects ceased to be completely excluded from legal relationships and disputes, and are afforded with proper legal protection. Throughout the ages, courts in different states have applied and discussed the doctrine of res divini juris in various legal disputes. Complicated legal disputes concerning res divini juris also arise a question, of whether res divini juris are always res extra commercium, and if not, what are the exceptions from the rule, if any? Finally, could it be estimated, what chattels may belong to res divini juris? Do the valuable archeological findings belong to res divini juris? The article discusses the existing law doctrine of res divini juris and the applicable case law in a form of a comparative analysis in order to establish the legal status of res divini juris.

Book review on LÖHNIG, M. – MOSZYŃSKA, A. (eds.) Reception of the ‘Limited Liability Company (GmbH)’. Vídeň: Böhlau Verlag, 2024, 284 s.

More than thirty years have passed since the change of regime and the question of what can be done by those who were under state surveillance in the previous regime is still relevant. How can a victim find out who tore his family apart, who ruined his career? Will the identity of the collaborators ever come to light? Can these people still participate in public life and hold public office today? In our study, we take stock of the specificities of the subject in Hungary and the obstacles to facing history. We conclude that the exclusion from holding a public office is overdue, the documents are incomplete, their authenticity is questionable, and the issue is sensitive because of competing fundamental rights. The generation that has become of age since the change of regime is less and less interested in our immediate past. This trend is dangerous, because the unresolved past contributes to the blurring of the dividing line between the two regimes to the point where, faced with the new difficulties, society is left longing for the old. Will there be a real change? The legal possibility (at least in the field of information compensation) is still there, and this is what we show in our study.

This paper focuses on a significant phenomenon that existed mainly in the late 1950s and 1960s – the comrades’ courts. In the introduction, this social organisation is mentioned in Czechoslovakia, but then the paper provides brief information on the similar institutions in USSR, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The work is divided into thematic parts based on countries, where the legislative development and the organisation of comrades’ courts are included, but also this paper contains information on procedures and sanctions. Finally, an attempt is made to evaluate and compare these institutions.

Book review on VACEK, Josef. Apelační soud v letech 1627–1727. Studie a prameny. Praha: Auditorium, 2023, 240 s.

Book review on VANÍČEK V. – KOTOUS J. (eds.). Posunuté jubileum. 1050 let od založení pražského biskupství. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2024, 500 s.

In his article, the author deals with the issue of the “nationalization” of civil rights in the USA, by which, in the context of the issue, he means primarily the incorporation of civil liberties contained in the federal Bill of Rights at the level of individual states of he Union. As he explains, this incorporation was rejected until the Civil War based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Barron v. Baltimore in 1833. Other possibilities for such incorporation opened up after the passage of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868. However, even here, this solution was first rejected in the so-called “slaughterhouse cases” of 1873, when the “immunities and privileges clause” of the amendment was not used. The gradual incorporation of the Bill of Rights thus occurs only through the “due process clause” of the 14th Amendment, as evidenced in particular by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court adopted in the 20th century. This whole process, which very well documents the issue of the federal system in the USA, is primarily completed in the 1960s.

The adoption of the law on the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state from 1918, which adopted the previous law of Austria-Hungary on Czechoslovakterritory, brought with it legal dualism. This was also manifested in property relations between spouses; while in the territory of the Czech countries this area was based on the dispositively applicable legal system of separate property of spouses, in the territory of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia Russia two dispositive systems operated side by side, namely the system of separate property and the co-acquisition system, which were derived from the previous status arrangement of society. The solution to the legal dualism, which brought with it many problems, was supposed to be a legal arrangement that would be applied uniformly throughout the territory. After many discussions, the unification work took the path of a moderate revision of the provisions of the ABGB, while in this process the specific legal conditions of Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia were considered. The study follows the unification work in the field of civil law mainly on the basis of the discussions of experts who participated in the drafting of the Civil Code and the basic documents that were their results, while paying particular attention to the activities of the Slovak professional public, led by the Ministry of Unification and the Slovak Commission for the civil law as well as other experts who fought for the preservation of the institution of co-acquisition in the interwar period.

The study deals with an important Slovak lawyer, university lecturer and writer Anton Vavrinec Ottmayer who lived and worked in the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom for the first two thirds of the 19th century. The paper deals mainly with the lesser-known aspects of his career, in particular his scientific career within the Faculty of Law, where he was Dean for two years (1832–1834). He lectured on statistics, mining law and also published on the law of substitution. His literary works were written in Slovak, his professional legal works in Latin and German. In addition, he worked as an attorney and agent (lawyer) at the military court. In 1849 he was accused of insulting the majesty by the Austrian authorities, he was convicted and spent one year in prison. This put an end to his previous university career and he therefore started his own business. His aim was to build a waterworks in Pest. His activities were not always successful, he lost his house at auction and tax lawsuits were also brought against him. To this day, it is not entirely clear exactly when he died. Ottmayer’s life well documents the developments of Hungarian capital, the existential dilemmas, professional and political challenges for lawyers at the time. It also documents the university world and the professional issues that resonated in the professional press of the first half of the 19th century.

Until the founding of the Republic of Latvia, women were practically excluded from law studies and work in the justice system. The territory of Latvia was part of the Russian Empire and thus subject to the 1864 judicial reform and its laws, which required a law degree and experience to be eligible for working in the justice system and prohibited women from these positions. Following the founding of the Republic of Latvia in 1918 and, more specifically, the establishment of the University of Latvia which had a stronger focus on gender equality in 1919, Latvian women finally had the opportunity to earn the necessary degrees and pursue careers in the judiciary. However, to gain the required experience and be admitted to practice in the court, Bar association, or notaria, women initially needed someone to employ them. In this regard, specific well-known men with liberal worldviews played a significant role.

The article focuses on the functioning of military criminal justice in the period of the end of the First World War and in the first years of the First Czechoslovak Republic. The content of the article is a case study in which a criminal case is analyzed. The aim of this analysis is to outline the functioning of military criminal justice in the period under review, including the relevant legislation. Within the text, attention is also paid to the practical problems that the authorities involved in military criminal proceedings had to deal with.

The article concerns the origins of the well-known classification of corporeal and incorporeal things in Roman law, which follows from the development visible in the legal sources from Institutes of Gaius to the codification of the emperor Justinian. The wide range of non-legal sources dealing with the classification, mostly the philosophical works, from authors as Cicero, Seneca, Gellius, or Lactantius, is taken also into account. Two types of the classification based on the corporeality of things arise from all the analyzed texts. The first one uses the terms corporeal and incorporeal thing, but the legal sources, except the Institutes of Gaius and apart the non-legal ones, almost avoid it. The second one divides things with corpus and the ones consisting of rights and it is represented in the text of Ulpianus or Hermogenianus as well as in several post-classical legal sources. Nevertheless, the codification of the emperor Justinian adopts the formulation according to Gaius, whose proximity to the philosophy categories can be observed so the classification of the corporeal and incorporeal things.

The aim of this article is to highlight certain aspects of the application of Constitutional Act No. 74/1946 on the granting of citizenship to compatriots returning to their homeland, and to present some of the research brought to light from archival collections of the post-war Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute. The article points out that remigration under article 1 of the above-quoted Constitutional Act was not merely a privileged naturalization as was remigration under article 2 – compatriots were legally entitled to citizenship. Attention is paid especially to the contemporary extensive interpretation, which we could capture through the maxim in favorem remigrationis. Hence, for example, the legal terms “liberation of Czechoslovak territory from enemy occupation” and “Czechoslovak resettlement action” used to be interpreted remarkably broadly in the administrative practice of the post-war republic. In addition, the study reflects on the concepts of nation that have been crucial in determining the state’s policy on compatriots and remigration, and it looks for parallels with the recent compatriot policy of the Government of the Czech Republic.

The article discusses the concept of constituent and constituted power in the context of the establishment of the Czechoslovak state in 1918 – the constitutional revolution, with a particular focus on the role of Alois Rašín, a key figure in this process of discontinuity from the existing regime. However, the distinction between constituent and constituted power fails to explain how a new legal order arises without overly idealizing the constituent power. Author suggests focusing on specific values, such as democracy, political rights guarantees, and equality, rather than on the ephemeral nature of power during the creation of a new regime.

The aim of the article is to present deeds relating to the foundation of the Altar of the Holy Cross in the cathedral church in Litomyšl. The main source on the topic is an original deed issued by Šimon of Prague, vicar general and officialis of the Bishopric of Litomyšl, dated 27 November 1417, written by the public notary Havel Duchek of Lysá. The document is deposited in the State District Archives in Svitavy, seated in Litomyšl, under inventory number 34. In 1397, Jan, called Mladeč of Branná, bequeathed the sum of one hundred schock of groschen to the cathedral church in Litomyšl for the foundation of a new altar for the salvation of his soul. He was already ill by this time. On 16 June 1402, Bishop of Litomyšl Jan IV. Železný issued a deed which created a new altar benefice in the cathedral church in Litomyšl. Jan Mladeč had already passed away. The executors of his last will were Bishop of Litomyšl Jan IV. Železný and Petr and Přibík, brothers of Hrochův Týnec, otherwise from Chroustovice. This follows from a joint deed issued by all three on 18 April 1405. The conditions to be met by the holder of the altar benefice were laid down therein. He was to perform his duties personally or through another suitable priest, and a statement is made on precisely how many masses were to be celebrated during the week. The study is accompanied by an edition of four deeds relating to the foundation of the altar: a deed of 16 June 1402, a deed of 18 April 1405, a notarial copy of both deeds drawn up on 16 May [1405, 1406 or 1408], and a notarial copy of the latter deed drawn up on 27 November 1417.

The abuse of Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution during the late presidency of Hindenburg has been criticized in many previous studies as one of the key factors of the collapse of the Weimar Republic that led to the establishment of the Third Reich, resulting from the lack of understanding of the parliamentary democracy. Whereas those criticisms have arisen primarily from the analysis of the consequences, this paper analyzes the issue of the executed presidential emergency powers with an integrative approach by comparing the arguments by Preuß, the drafter of Article 48, and Schmitt, taking into account the perspectives of members of the constitutional assembly as well as their contemporaneous intellectuals. While Preuß and Schmitt may appear generally contrastive in their beliefs and theories, some implicit logical agreements are observed, such as those on their interpretations of the relation between the first and the second sentences in Article 48, paragraph 2, and their thoughts regarding the handling of the law of the Reich that should be in Article 48, paragraph 5. With the findings of their commonalities and others in their theories, this paper attempts to contribute to refining the current systems of law and democracy for emergency situations in various contexts.

Book review on HOŘEJŠ, M. Nacistická germanizační a osídlovací politika v Protektorátu Čechy a Morava. Praha: Karolinum, 2023, 431 s.

Book review on GROTIUS, H. Moře jsou svobodná. Praha: Karolinum, 2023, 108 s.

Book review on LENDEROVÁ, M. (ed.) Zvířata a jejich lidé. Praha: Karolinum, 2023, 536 s.

Editorial

This article deals with the life and career of a lesser-known personality of Zdeněk Kratochvíl (1922–2012), a civil servant, legislator, university lecturer and writer who contributed to the formation of the new concept of socialist civil law and other issues related to the fixation of the so-called consolidation of socialist legality and the people’s judiciary according to the requirements of Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The article looks at Kratochvíl’s legal career among others through the lens of two important contemporary Czechoslovak regulations (the Civil Code of 1964 and the Judicial Rehabilitation Act of 1968) which implementation he personally participated. While the first named statute brought him to the top of his career the second heralded his steep fall.

Historic-archaeological, also ethnographic studies and numerous historical sources and scientific data confirm that the city of Ganja has moved at least five times since its foundation. The original city of Ganja is considered to be the area near the village of Gadamish, five kilometers from the village of Zurnabad, on the left bank of Ganjachay, which is popularly called the “Fortress place”. As a result of the earthquake in 427 and the wars between the Huns and the Sassanids, the ancient city of Ganja was destroyed and the city was established for the second time 8–9 versts from Gizil Gaya, 9–10 km north of Gizil Gaya. The present city of Ganja. In the VII century the city was destroyed by Arab invaders. Ganja, which moved for the third time, was established in the region called “City cape”, which is located in the territory of the present Samuh district. The city of Ganja, which was destroyed by a natural disaster, was built between the VII and XVII centuries in the region called the Shikh plain, the devastated land where the current Imamzadeh historical-architectural complex is located. It has existed for the fourth time in centuries. For the fifth time, the city of Ganja was built by Shah Abbas I in the XVII century on the territory of the current Ganja fortress. It is clear that, historical-literary heritage of Ganja city also belongings to such thinkers of Azerbaijan as Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Mirza Shafi Vazeh and other scientists, poets, philosophers. During centuries in this city lived such famous persons, thinkers as Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Siti Ganjavi, Raziya Ganjavi, Mirza Shafi Vazeh and others. Nizami Ganjavi influenced the expansion and defense of the ideology of akhilik with his works. After going through the difficult and turbulent moments of his youth, gaining experience and enlightenment raised him to the rank of Sheikh. In this research work on the basis of historical and written scientific sources, archival documents have been studied the features of development of science and education of the Renaissance period in Ganja city of Azerbaijan. In scientific work were also studied the teaching of social, humanitarian and natural sciences in Ganja during this historical period, the services of prominent scientists, thinkers and teachers of that period, who worked in madrasa and used rich libraries. In particular, given the importance of the city as a socio-political, economic, scientific and cultural center in the Middle Ages. By the way, during this historical period Ganja as an important political and cultural center was visited by famous scholars of the Muslim East, as well as important historical information about their teaching and scientific activities have been studied for many years. In scientific article on the basis of available scientific sources, historical documents, written sources, are considered the merits and patronage of the Azerbaijani state of Atabeys, which played an exceptional role in the development of the traditions of our national statehood, in the formation of prominent figures in science and culture. Also in this study, based on historical and ethnographic sources, have been determined the significance of the scientific, literary and cultural development of Ganja in the revival of the characteristic features of the Renaissance period not only of the country, but also in the development of the Islamic world as a whole. It also examines the propaganda in the works of the predecessors and successors of Sheikh Nizami, along with national traditions, universal human values and calls for a culture of coexistence.

The subject of this paper is a description and analysis of the life and work of the extraor¬dinary personality of the exiled lawyer F. A. Mann who became an extraordinary expert in public international law, private international law, comparative law and commercial law, who, moreover, laid the foundations of monetary law as a special subject of legal doctrine. As the famous English judge, Lord Denning, would say: “Mann contributed more than anyone else to the development the science of law in our time.” Born in a German Jewish family, he studied and began an academic career in Berlin. He was then forced to flee to Great Britain, where he studied law again and became a renowned solicitor and legal scholar. His career was crowned after World War II, when he became a leading figure in international legal organizations, leaving a far-reaching influence in English and international jurisprudence. In the 1960s and 1970s, he lectured at German universities in particular, where he received the highest honours, and also influenced German jurisprudence.

Legal sources relating to the imperial period (especially Justinian’s Digesta) show that Roman criminal law allowed women to bring criminal charges only in exceptional situations. On the other hand, to prosecute the murderer of a relative was considered a sacred duty for the members of the victim’s family. Any negligence in this area was perceived as wicked behaviour and detrimental to the memory of the deceased. The obligation to bring a criminal charge, symbolically identified with vengeance (ultio, vindicta), rested with men. The surviving funeral eulogy known as the Laudatio Turiae shows a very different pattern. Its content shows that at the end of the first century BC, it was a woman who accused the murderers of her parents in court and brought about their conviction. The oration makes it possible to initiate an interesting discussion on the real importance of women’s voice in the criminal process and on the social stereotypes that limited their participation in public procedures.

The presented paper examines the First Republic activities of Bohuslav Ečer, general of the judicial service, professor of international criminal law and well-known “Nazi hunter”. Ečer’s legal and political activities are examined, as well as his analysis of events on the international scene. Ečer’s political and legal views during the First Republic illustrate his character and personality traits and illuminate his actions during and after World War II.

This article presents the life of two overlooked Czechoslovak jurists, Augustin and August Adolf Popelka. Both led very successful careers as state officers. Augustin (1854–1938) started his career as a private lawyer in Brno. In 1899, he became a member and later president of The Administrative Court in Vienna. After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, he became the first president of the new Supreme Court. He held this position until his retirement in 1930. He also briefly (1920–1921) served as the minister of justice in the first caretaker government. His son, August Adolf (1887–1951), studied at the law faculty of the University of Vienna. In 1919 he became a member of The Office of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic. He was very close friend and colleague of chancellor Šámal and helped to the master of ceremonies Guth-Jarkovský to establish The Order of the White Lion. He remained in the Office after year 1938 and in 1941 became the chancellor of president Hácha’s office.

This article aims to analyze and synthesize the knowledge pertaining to the various aspects of the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Czechoslovak Republic, particularly focusing on their influence on the negotiation, content, and implementation of the Modus vivendi. The paper primarily delves into the circles associated with the diplomatic relations between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Holy See. It also addresses the transfer of privileges from the former Monarchy to the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. Additionally, the article explores certain aspects of the confessional legal legislation of the Czechoslovak Republic during the period preceding the negotiation of the Modus vivendi, specifically from 1918 to 1928.

Book review on VYŠNÝ P. – PUCHOVSKÝ J. Právne dejiny Latinskej Ameriky: Koloniálne obdobie a obdobie nezávislých štátov. Trnava: Typi Universitatis Tyrnaviensis, 2022, 336 s.

The authors analyse decisions of the Supreme Court of the Czechoslovak Republic regarding the application of the Act on the Protection of the Republic (1923) in cases of disturbing the peace, perceived as manifestations of left-wing radicalism. In addition to the legal-historical analysis of selected representative cases, the authors also address the issue of proportionality within the framework of legislation and its judicial application in the sense of the necessity of the correct assessment of the necessity and adequacy of the state authorities’ interference into the freedom of speech in the changing situation of the 1920s and 1930s.

The Principality (later the Duchy) of Frýdlant existed only briefly, not much more than 10 years. Nevertheless, during this time, a number of remarkable legal monuments were created on its soil, including a draft of its own land constitution, which included a peculiar regulation of court proceedings. It is the knowledge of the Frýdlant judiciary from various perspectives that is the subject of this study, which aims to provide an overview of its personnel, normative and factual aspects. It begins with a brief analysis of the degree of independence of the judiciary and Wallenstein’s “happy land” in general, followed by three further sections in the sense described above. In the first, the judicial tribunal, also called the government (Regierung) and combining in its hands – with the omission of the landlord himself, of course – the highest judicial and executive powers, is introduced in some detail. The content of those articles of the above-mentioned land constitution which concerned jurisdiction and procedural law is reproduced. Finally, attention is also paid to the real form of the judiciary, taking into account the materials preserved in the separate Valdštejniana fund in the National Archives. However, these are rather only some basic theses, because the scope of these materials clearly requires further, extensive research (which can be stated mutatis mutandis also about the whole history of the Duchy of Frýdlant).

During the 14th century, canon law gained considerable influence. All cases which related to clergy and Church property were dealt with solely by the ecclesiastical courts. During the preparatory phases of court proceedings, public notaries were very important. They were mainly involved in appointing legal representatives and producing verified copies of important documents. The objective of this article is to present two notarial instruments produced by public notaries: Materna, the son of Doctor Martin of Kladsko, and Nicolas, called Naso, the son of Henry of Chojnów. Both instruments were produced in 1419 and relate to the monastery of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Kladsko. The documents are kept in the Kladsko parish archive under numbers A 4 b and A 12 i. Attached is a critical edition of both notarial instruments. The first instrument incorporates documents of Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia, Charles IV, King of Bohemia, and Arnošt of Pardubice, Archbishop of Prague, which show the ownership of properties in the Kladsko region and outside it. The second instrument records the appointment of legal representatives of the convent at the ecclesiastical courts. We do not have any direct evidence of the subject of the monastery’s dispute, but one can assume that it related to long-term disputes with the holders of fiefs in the Kladsko region. These disagreements related to economic immunity (unauthorised attempts to collect royal taxes for the monastery’s properties) and, to a lesser extent, other matters.

The article deals with the characterization of Leopold Heyrovský (1852–1924), professor of Roman law at the Law Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, as a “republican” and “freethinker”, as preserved by the memories of his descendants. Using the memories of his daughter Klára Heyrovská and of his colleague Jan Krčmář, the author focuses on religion, political and social ideas and the paternal role of Leopold Heyrovský. On the basis of partial sources, he is trying to reconstruct the political, religious, and social habitus of the hitherto less researched Prague university professor. It turns out that the characterization of Heyrovský as a republican and freethinker basically corresponds to reality, but with the caveat that Heyrovský was well aware of the risks that such opinions would bring him, and therefore expressed them only very carefully. His religious situation – he remained formally Catholic but did not participate in any religious ceremonies – was complicated not only by his position as a university professor, but also by his marriage to a fervent Catholic wife who raised their children in this faith. Nevertheless, he tried to pass on his free-spirited and patriotic views to his children, to whom he devoted a lot of time as a committed father.

Intention of the authors is to analyse the importance of national holiday of the Slovak National Uprising in a context of collective and historical memory of the Slovak nation. The aim of submitted paper is therefore to analyse various lines of opinion on the Slovak National Uprising, especially from the perspective of two totalitarian ideologies, as well as from the perspective of contemporary historiography after 1989. In the context of aforementioned analyses, authors deal with recent and historical interpretations from the historical and collective memory point of view, with an emphasis on legal consequences. The first years of independence and democracy brought to Slovakia re-increase of pro-fascist (ľudák’s) interpretation of history, which, however, did not succeeded in settling down in the collective memory of the Slovak nation. Nevertheless, the last years once again brought relativisation and misinterpretation of historical context of the Slovak National Uprising and its specific standing in society as a national holiday in particular. Reflecting these negative trends, the authors also consider possibilities of effective protection of national holidays, not only with the use of law.

The paper contemplates the importance of Leopold Heyrovský’s position as one of the most influential professors at Charles University in the late 1800s. His textbook, as the first Czech-language textbook of Roman law, was first published in a position to be able to set forth the thesaurus of the Czech private-law legal terminology which is still used today. In this context, the paper offers an overview of the preceding position of the Czech language in the legal system.

The study is devoted to Derrida’s conception of normativity, focusing on his intervention in jurisprudence through reinterpretation of the concept of justice, which had a major influence on American critical legal studies theorists. A short introduction setting the topic into a broader context is followed by a section providing a brief overview of Derrida’s essential conceptual apparatus and the explanation of the method of deconstruction. In the next section, we identify two complementary ways in which Derrida understands the concept of justice: the first identifies justice directly with deconstruction, and thus centers normativity in Derrida’s own philosophical project; the second connects the concept of justice to the idea of infinity, and thus refers to Lévinas’ philosophy. In the conclusion of the text, we summarize the most significant responses and critical reactions to Derrida’s conception and consider whether it can provide guidance for judicial decision-making, as some theorists have suggested.

This contribution focuses on the development of the concept of the precarium from the beginning of its codification in the ABGB to the present day, focusing more closely on two historically established interpretations: the first adopted by Antonín Randa and developed by his student Josef Stupecký and the second adopted by the Austrian civilian Josef von Schey. Historically, these conceptions came into conflict in our territory during the recodification of the ABGB in interwar Czechoslovakia which is why the contribution discusses the development of the precarium also within the framework of the so-called Draft Civil Codes, all considering contemporary Austrian and Czechoslovak case-law. Finally, the contribution provides a concept in the form of contemporary Austrian law and its concept of precarium which is also relevant in the light of the fact that the ABGB provision on precarium has remained unchanged since 1811.

The present study focuses on the question of the specialization of the councils of the Court of Appeal at the end of the 17th century, i.e. whether individual cases were assigned to judges according to their professional or other specialization. First of all, the paper defines the very notion of specialization as a phenomenon that can be perceived in terms of geography, language, subject matter and personnel. The initial sources are the minutes of the Court of Appeal, which survive for the end of the seventeenth century and from which it is possible to see which councils were assigned which cases to handle. On the basis of these protocols, the author conducts a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the collected sources and concludes that all four types of specialization were applied to a greater or lesser extent in the Court of Appeal, but that they were never fully implemented. Although this is an examination of a phenomenon that has not yet received the attention of the professional community, the results so far appear to be fruitful and may shed light on the internal workings of some courts, as it is a generally actionable phenomenon.

The protection of personality and the legal aspects of maintaining professional secrecy have a complicated history of development in many countries of the world. The evolvement of privacy rights and the protection of professional secrecy remain fairly known in the period of the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) in both contemporary and historical legal scholarship, despite a substantial number of cases were heard before the courts of the First Czechoslovak Republic upon the said subject. The research shows, that the protection of various privacy-related rights was anchored by different norms of the Civil Code, the Penal Code and other legislative acts; several outstanding court cases heard before the Supreme Court of the First Czechoslovak Republic displayed that the most frequent violations of this type were defamations, privacy violations and insults to the honor of the deceased. In some other cases, the Supreme Court discussed the issues of inviolability of letter correspondence and the admissibility of evidence containing a professional secret.

The article deals with selected forgotten discussions on legal and sub-legal projects in period 1918–1929 when Antonín Švehla held important state executive positions. It draws attention to the importance of Antonín Švehla for the legislation and interpretation of law, and also tries to highlight specific significant projects from that period that are important for the trends in the development of legal sectors, especially in the sectors of labour law and social security in Czechoslovakia. The article provides some new insights into the history of law in the Czech lands in the first half of the 20th century, e.g., the considerations on the creation of the Labour Code as early as in the 1920s, the public law aspects of labour law and their abandonment, efforts to unify social security legislation, etc. It refers to the important institutions that were to influence the shape of commercial and trade law, as well as labour relations, at the beginning of the Czechoslovak Republic. The efforts to abolish the death penalty are also mentioned in the article. The article does not limit itself to normativity, but also considers interest, socio-economic and other extra-legal influences on the shape of the legal order.

Editorial

Conference report

This paper introduces the specifics of war marriages in the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia during the period of their involvement in the Russian Civil War. After a brief introduction to the historical context, it aims to describe the restrictions imposed on marriages for Czechoslovak legionnaires and their reasons which eventually led to a temporary total ban of war marriages within the Legion for several months after the 1st Convention of Czechoslovak army in the summer of 1918. The paper also explains why and under what conditions the marriages were later re-enabled, what the consequences of marrying without permission were and what legal means the army used to combat high numbers of illegal marriages within its ranks.

The paper deals with the legal aspects of the establishment of the so-called Greater Prague, i.e., the merger of neighbouring municipalities with the capital of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1922. The introduction briefly outlines the efforts to merge Prague with its suburbs dating from the mid-19th century until 1918. The following section focuses on the activities of the National Assembly on the establishment of Greater Prague. In addition to the establishment and the membership of the Greater Prague Committee, parliamentary papers related to the creation of Greater Prague are described and analysed. Parliamentary papers 719 and 1216, which included government bills to merge neighbouring municipalities and settlements into the City of Prague, a bill on elections to the Metropolitan Council and a bill on the organisation and powers of the Metropolitan Council and local committees, are discussed in detail. From a comparison of the government proposals, the amendments proposed by parliamentary committees and the text of the laws adopted, it is possible to deduce the general tendencies of the relationship between the state administration and local government at the beginning of the Czechoslovak Republic. The issues of financing the establishment and operation of the new capital of Czechoslovakia have not gone unnoticed.

Book review: Karel Engliš. Paměti. Kdo sloužíš vlasti, nečekej odměny. Brno – Praha: MU – Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR, v. v. i., 2022, 598 s.

The aim of the study is to point out the fact that the evolution of human society is accompanied by constant wars, which demanded a response to its existence also at the level of socio-legal philosophy. It deals with this issue from a legal, moral, and ethical point of view, which, in this case, are basically intertwined in the concept of a just war. Its roots go back to antiquity, and it is also a part of modern war law and philosophy. A relatively significant shift in this concept occurred precisely in the Middle Ages because of Christian wars, or under the influence of medieval teachings. This development continued in the early modern period in connection with the colonization of America. Therefore, in this study, we will focus on the views of Thomas Aquinas (as a representative of the High Middle Ages and scholasticism) and Francisco de Vitoria (as a representative of the Early Modern Age and the School of Salamanca). This topic is even more relevant because nowadays theories of just war are no longer viewed only at the level of a harmless academic debate, but they are beginning to be more and more accentuated as tools serving specific goals of the time.

The present paper focuses on the release proceeding of the serfs on the Chamber estates of Točník, Zbiroh and Králův Dvůr in the years 1670–1690, i.e. during the office of the governor Ignatius Sebastian de Bois. The process was controlled by both provincial regulations, such as the Renewed Provincial Ordinance, and overlord regulations, such as the instructions for the governor. However, the exact release proceeding has not yet been described, so the thesis attempts to shed light on the process that both the serfs and the overlords had to undergo in order to issue a letter of release. The thesis concludes with the hypothesis that the mechanisms described are applicable to other chambered estates in the second half of the 17th century. The basis of the thesis are microhistorical probes, which, in conjunction with a quantitative-qualitative approach, allow to capture both the overall picture of the release proceedings and its individual aspects in detail.