DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2017.12.22784

Abstract: The subject of this research is the legal status of Armenian community in various cities located in the territories of modern Poland and Ukraine during the period of XV-XVIII centuries. The author examines the legal acts based on which was regulated the system of local self-governance and court system within the Armenian national community, as well as judicial-administrative books that contained the session protocols of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Armenian Court. The article analyzes the content of the indicated sources, their structure and role in life of the Armenian community. The scientific novelty lies in the facts that this work is first to systematically examine the status of Armenian community in Polish and Ukrainian cities from the historical-legal perspective. The work demonstrates the close correlation between the system of local self-governance and court system within the Armenian communities. A conclusion is made that within the examined territory the norms of Armenian law had been sanctioned by the government and became the part of particular international law.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-868X.2015.4.15534

Abstract: The subject of this research is the Sudebnik (Code of Laws) of Sempad the Constable, devised in the second half of the XIII century and used throughout the territory of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, its norms in the spheres of criminal and civil law, as well as the issues of government administration and state structure. A special attention is given to the positions that distinguish the norms of this document from the text of the Sudebnik written by Mkhitar Gosh, which was used earlier in Cilicia and was considered to be the main source for Sudebnik of Sempad the Constable. The main conclusions of the work consist in the thesis that the Sudebnik (Code of Laws) of Sempad the Constable is an independent legal act, preparation and enactment of which were substantiated by the demand and conditions of development of the Cilician society. The Sudebnik represents a unique legal document and a substantial contribution to the medieval Armenian culture.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-868X.2015.2.14027

Abstract: The subject of the present research is the Lawcode of Mxit'ar Gosh created in the late XIIth - early XIIIth centuries, in particular, legal provisions regulating criminal law and civil law relations and rules of judicial proceedings. Special attention is paid to the principles of legal proceedings and principles of imposition of punishment for commission of crime. The author also examines the process and conditions for imposing death penalty. The author also touches upon the questions of the legal regulation of all kinds of treaties, the procedures of hereditary succession and testamentary succession that were effective in Armenia in the middle ages. The author has applied geneal research methods and special research methods such as historical-legal, comparative-historical, comparative-legal, formal-logical and system methods. The main conclusion of the research is that Mxit'ar Gosh was the first one to introduce the concept of natural law, natural right, natural beginnings and humanism long before European philosophers of the Enlightenment. The rules established by the Lawcode were quite progressive for those times and created the basis for the formation and development of Armenian law. 

DOI: 10.7256/2305-9699.2014.6.12090

Abstract: The article concerns the main monuments of Armenian law, which were created in the early modern period in various states, and which predefined to a great extent the development of modern legal, social and political thought.  The merited representatives of the Armenian communities in many countries in the world have created sources (monuments) of law, which reflected the best elements of national legal culture and the achievements of the leading legal systems of the world. Among the most striking and important monuments of Armenian law one may mention the Astrakhan Armenian Judicial Charter, Trap of Ambition (Vorogait Parats) by Shaamir Shaamiryan, which was the draft Constitution of Armeina and acts of the Armenian court in Kamenets-Podolskiy. The author analyzes the contents of these acts, their structure and role in the life of Armenian community. When writing the article the author used special methods, such as historic legal method, comparative historic method, comparative legal method, formal logical method, systemic method. Appliction of the combination of these methods has allowed for a comprehensive solution in order to achieve the goal of research. The said period of XV - XVIII centuries may be characterized with the large-scale migration of the Armenian people.  The colonies in Russia, India, Ukraine, Poland, Italy and other states played important roles in preservation of the national identity of the Armenians, development of their culture and law. It probably may be stated, that being an important input into the history of Armenian legal studies, the Judicial Charter of the Astrakhan Armenians of XVIII century is at the same time the monument of Armenian law, reflecting the centuries of friendship between Armenian and Russian peoples. The Judicial Charter of the Astrakhan Armenians in fact was applied as one of the local law sources in Russia, thus, having a worthy place within the system of Russian law in the issues of regulation of the relations in the Armenian colonies in Astrakhan, Mozdok, Kizlyar and other places. The Judicial Charter of the Astrakhan Armenians of 1765 was published in 1967 in Armenian language, but it was never translated or published in a full volume in Russian language. For the analysis of the norms of this Judicial Charter the author translated its text into Russian language.  Currently most of the scientists recognize the Trap of Ambition (Vorogait Parats) of Shaamir Shaamiryan to be the draft Constitution of the independent Armenian state.  However, we came to the conclusion that this document is both aimed into the future, and includes many issues, allowing to characterize it as a legal mechanism for the organization of the Armenian national liberation movement of the relevant time and place.  The acts of the court of Kamenets-Podolsk also serve as an important monument of development of the Armenian law. They are the primary sources, as formed in the process of judicial proceedings, and they clearly show the process of application of law in the activities of the judicial body. They reflect the issues of legal regulation of private relations in the Armenian reality of the time. Analysis of these acts allows one to state that Armenian colonies wherever they were organized did not forget their culture and their roots, trying to regulate their life abroad based upon the traditions, law and other principles provided by their ancestors.  

DOI: 10.7256/2306-420X.2014.4.12056

Abstract: In article features of legal status of peasants in East Armenia, the characteristic of their property and non-property rights, as during the period before accession of East Armenia to the Russian Empire (the first quarter of the XIX century), and after entry of the Armenian lands into structure of the Russian Empire are considered. Foundations of division of peasants on various groups on which depended not only a set of the rights and duties, but also a procedure for payment of taxes and other obligatory payments are analyzed.Change of the state accessory of the Armenian lands entailed serious changes in its social, economic, politichny order and legal system. The indicator of these changes, undoubtedly, position of the population and, first of all, the most numerous estate – the peasantry which left about 90 percent of the Armenian population is. The state (state) peasants made the vast majority of them about 80 percent. The others lived on landowners' estates and were called as landowner peasants. In article the adopted acts directed on definition of the rights and duties of peasants in system of the new power are analyzed. In work the following general methods of research - the description, analogy, the analysis and synthesis, logical and historical modeling are used. For the analysis of various points of view on development of legal status of peasants and its separate elements the dialectic method of knowledge was used. When writing article such special methods, as historical and legal, comparative-historical, comparative and legal, formal and logical, system were used. Application in total of the specified methods allowed to solve in a complex set the purpose and the tasks. The author of article for the first time systematized all acts, archival data, and also the main researches of the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern periods concerning legal status of peasants in East Armenia in the XIX century. Entry of East Armenia into structure of the Russian Empire and acceptance of a number of legal acts led to a certain systematization of legal status of the peasantry. Though, it should be noted that the adopted acts often contained the measures which had "vague" character in this sphere. It is connected with that the state policy of the considered period, in the most part, was directed on support of estate of land owners as they were a support of the government on places. Some attempts to carry out a full-fledged peasant reform weren't finished. However, despite all shortcomings, the carried-out transformations allowed to include Armenia and to its population in the process of creation of the capitalist, commodity-money relations which captured almost all empire.

DOI: 10.7256/2305-9699.2014.2.10920

Abstract: The article concerns specific features of legal status of the class of the land owners in the Eastern Armenia, characteristics of their proprietary and non-proprietary rights in the period both before the Eastern Armenia joined the Russian Empire (the first quarter of the XIX century) and after the Armenian lands were included into the Russian Empire. The author analyzes the types of land ownership, such as mulkadar (landed gentry) and tiul, provides their main characteristics, types and legal nature. The changes of the state to which the Armenian lands belonged caused serious changes in its social, economic, political structure and legal system.  The indicator of these changes was the position of the people, including owners of land, land being the main source of production.  The article includes analysis of the legislative acts aimed at defining rights and obligations of landowners within the new government system. The author pays special attention to the legal status of the Armenian church, as one of the largest landowners of the time and an active participant in the political life of Armenia.  The article uses the following general scientific methods: description, analogy, analysis, synthesis, logical and historical modeling.  The author also used a dialectic cognition method in order to analyze various points of view on the development of legal status of the landowners and its elements.  When writing this article the author also used special methods: historical legal method, comparative historical method, comparative legal method, formal logical method, systemic method. The combined application of the said methods allowed to achieve the goals and aims of the study. For the first time the author systematizes all of the legislative acts, archive information and studies on the issue of legal status of landowners in the Eastern Armenia in the XIX century.