CHARTER OF GENUA COLONIES ON THE BLACK SEA 1449 – MONUMENT OF MEDIUM ITALIAN LAW ON THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the coverage of the sources of codification and analysis of the contents of the Charter of Genoese colonies in the Black Sea in 1449. It was emphasized that the sources of codification were, first of all, the rules of the statutes issued by the state authorities of the Genoese Republic before - from the end of the XIII century, and the practice of the judicial authorities of the metropolis and colonies In addition, the «consilia» of Genoese lawyers, united in collections, some of which were later published, have had a significant impact on codification. A certain influence on the Statute of the Genoese colonies on the Black Sea was made by the then canonical right of the Catholic Church, as well as legal practices.

Attention is drawn to the fact that the text of the Statute contained a number of norms that determined the legal status of individual groups of the population. Decisive was the division into «Genoese» and «non-Genoese». «Genoese» – citizens of the Genoese Republic (cives) constituted the ruling elite and occupied all senior administrative positions. At the same time, it has been stressed that these rights did not apply to hired soldiers, sailors and servants of Italian descent. Some of the Genoese people in fact acquired the rights that were endowed with only major feudal lords in Europe – their feudal possessions were only nominally dependent on the Genoese government, and even more so from the local administration.

It was noted that the Charter of 1449 had sufficiently clearly defined the system of public authorities and the administration of Cuffi and other colonies, headed by Consul Cuffi, who was elected in Genoa. The leading place among the norms of law contained in the Statute was administrative rules. They regulated the most diverse spheres of life of the population of Cuffi and other Cyrillic cities and settlements. A significant part of the document is the rules governing fiscal relations.

It was emphasized that through the Genoese colony there was a lively trade. Obviously, in view of the need to first regulate relations of a binding character, the Statute also included a significant number of norms regulating civil-law relations. The Statute also provides an opportunity to create an idea of ​​and some crimes and punish them, about the basic features of procedural law of the Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea coast.