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Karalių Augusto II ir Augusto III laikais įvyko Abiejų Tautų Respublikos abiejų armijų (Lenkijos ir Lietuvos) modernizacija. Ypač reikšmingi čia organizacine ir finansine prasme buvo 1717 m. Nebyliojo Seimo nutarimai. Buvo galvojama ir apie karinės teisės reformas. Straipsnyje nagrinėjami 1737 m. balandžio 27 d. Drezdene karaliaus pasirašyti "Karūnos artilerijos kariniai straipsniai" (Artykuły Wojskowe Artylerii Koronnej), t. y. teisinis aktas, kuriuo buvo reglamentuojamos Lenkijos karalystės artilerijos dalinių funkcijos. Nors šis aktas, sudarytas iš 34 straipsnių, buvo tobulesnis už ankstesnes artilerijos reglamentacijas, straipsnyje yra palyginamas su jomis, tačiau, kaip atrodo, taip ir neįsigaliojo. Straipsnyje reiškiama nuomonė, kad tam pasipriešino Karūnos didysis etmonas Juzefas Potockis (Józef Potocki), nenorėjęs karinės teisės reformos, kuria būtų apribojama jo valdžia. Jis konfliktavo su Zigmuntu Adolfu Rybinskiu (Zygmunt Adolf Rybiński), Lenkijos artilerijos vadu, kurio iniciatyva ir buvo ruošiami 1737 m. kariniai straipsniai artileristams. Straipsnyje panaudojama J. Potockio korespondencija, saugoma archyve, o taip pat daug publikuotų istorijos šaltinių. 1749 m. buvo parengti nauji bendrieji "Kariniai straipsniai", jie jau turėjo galioti ir artilerijos korpusams. Taip de jure pasibaigė atskirų karinių straipsnių vien tik artilerijos kariuomenei funkcionavimas. Vis dėlto 1737 m. dokumentas yra įdomus kaip karinės teisės šaltinis. Dėl to dokumentas kaip straipsnio priedas yra skelbiamas transkribuota forma, prieš tai paaiškinus transkripcijos niuansus.

The Vilnius University was established on 7th July 1578, pursuant to the Royal Decree of King Stefan Batory. The royal act of establishment has been confirmed by the papal bull of Pope Gregory XIII on 29th October 1579 and by resolution of the Seym adopted in 1585. Before the rise of the Academy in Vilnius several schools had operated one of them founded by Peter Roizjusz. Thanks to the activity of this famous scholar and lawyer, the elements of Roman law were taught in Vilnius even before the creation of a university in Lithuania. At the beginning of the Academy there were no faculties of law or medicine. Presumably, this was connected with a lack of qualified staff in Lithuania. Only under the privilege granted by King Władysław IV, dated 11th October 1644 was a law faculty opened (composed of a chair of canon law and two of civil law). It is very hard to present a list of professors of Roman law (civil) at the University of Vilnius. Perhaps this is due to the fact that apart from Roizjusz, other scientists interested in Roman Law did not teach in Vilnius. Presumably there was only one chair of civil law (Roman). There is no doubt that Roman law played an important role in the training of lawyers and was taught intermittently throughout the remaining period of the operation of the Academy. In addition, preserved sources reflect the scientific work of professors, who were employed there. Following the example of other universities, the Academy of Vilnius awarded in this field a combined doctoral degree embracing “both laws” – civil and canon, which applied primarily to future law professors and high-ranking prelates who performed public functions. Probably there were no promoted doctors of civil law. The basis of the lectures were institutions of the Roman law of Justinian, and their content was not different from the standards adopted in other universities.

The article presents the legal regulations on the principles of women’s presence in the Polish and Lithuanian army in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Jan Tarnowski at the end of the first half of the sixteenth century introduced the first significant limitations on this matter. According to military law the only women that could exist in army were wives of soldiers and persons accompanying troops (e.g. merchants, servants). The soldiers did not reconciled with the limitations and began to exploit loopholes for their own purposes. Firstly, marriages were concluded, only to make possible prostitution in the army. Secondly, in many cases, soldiers declared that concubine or sexual slave is their married wife. Lawmakers were trying to refine the rules during the second half of sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth century. In a result (despite the difficulties and with the help of military law) in that period Polish and Lithuanian army had a small percentage of women, especially compared to Western armies. Periods when the practice was significantly different from the legal rules were periods of war. Then the soldiers treated the captured people as spoils of war. Some of the women were „military wives”, some were used as sex slaves.

The Polish underground jurisdiction in Vilnius Region during World War II consisted of two structures – Wojskowe Sądy Specjalne (WSS), connected with the underground Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and Sąd Karny Specjalny (SKS), connected with the underground civil administration. They were established in 1942 and 1943. The Polish underground jurisdiction played very important role – it was created to establish Polish justice on the occupied by the Nazis territory. Vilnius Region had complicated ethnical and political structure at this time. These problems were used by Soviet and Nazi occupants to suppress Polish underground. There were many individuals who collaborated with the occupant’s authorities. The documents concerning individual cases have not been preserved, so it’s difficult to find out how many criminal trials have taken place. According to information form press and other sources there were about 100 cases in WSS, but the number of cases in SKS is unknown. During the Soviet occupation only one death sentence was enforced. During the Nazi occupation 1942-44 the number of enforced death sentences increased to 11. Those who were sentenced were accused of collaboration with Gestapo or NKWD. You should also mention that 5 death sentences could not be enforced, because the sentenced traitors escaped. Some of the traitors took part in Ponary massacre, where 100 thousand of civilians were executed. There are some controversies in two cases, because the death sentences were connected with political views of the accused persons. Generally, the sentences were legal and correct.