The archetype of the freedom of peaceful assembly in the Ancient Russian Law

Author(s):  A.V. Salenko, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad, Russia, ASalenko@kantiana.ru

Issue:  Volume 42, №24

Rubric:  Actual Problems of Legal Regulation

Annotation:  In the present article the author undertook a historical-legal study of the protoplast for the freedom of peaceful assembly in the Ancient Russian Law. The article examines the emergence, development and legal regulation of public events (assemblies) in so-called ‘prenormative period’ in the Russian history, when custom (customary law) was the legal basis for organization of peaceful assemblies in our contemporary understanding. The author’s focus point is concentrated on the research of the peculiarities of the Ancient Kopa Law (‘drevnee kopnoe pravo’), which over centuries regulated procedure for holding public people’s events (kopa, veche) in the Ancient Russian (Slavic) communities. The best known example of such ancient public assemblies was Novgorod Veche. The author considers that so-called assembly democracy is not an exotic or alien form of self-government for the Russian people; even more the traditions of the Ancient Kopa Law have still an impact on the legal culture and legal awareness of the modern Russian people

Keywords:  Ancient Russian Law, kopa, veche, assembly, public event, Kopa Law, public assemblies, freedom of peaceful assembly, public assembly law, Russia

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