Russkaya Pravda

The Russkaya Pravda, or "Russian truth", was the first written law code of the Kieven Rus peoples.  It was based on work by Yaroslav The Wise, the grand prince of [Kiev], written in the 11th century.  Yaroslav codified the legal regulations of fuedal law and some ancient customs that can be traced back to the old communal system.  Further work was done by Yaroslav's sons and grandsons, most notably, Vladimir Monomakh.  Scholars speculate over the origin of the ideas and customs written in the Pravda.  Some insist that the main source is Scandinavian and German customs, while others claim it is centered around the enactments of the Russian Princes. The final result consisted of 43 articles, dealing mostly with violations of criminal and civil law.   

An interesting characteristic of the Russkaya Pravda is the excessive use of fines as punishment rather than capital punishment enacted formally by the governing body.  For example, in the case of murders, the closest relatives of the victim were allowed to mete out thier own personalized justice to the offender.  If the victim had no family, the murderer would be ordered to pay a fine, known as [vira].  If the killer could not raise the funds himself, his community would be forced to chip in.  If the victim was a woman, the killer only had to pay half of the fine.  The large fines benefitted the knyaz more than the victim of the actual crime.  The number of avengers was limited to minimize blood feuds among the families.  It also allowed for criminal investigations to find suspects and decree guilt or innocence through witnesses, evidence collection, and oaths.   

The Russkaya Pravda issued distinctions to the peasant classes.  There were the smerds, zakups, and kholops.  Smerds were the best to be, they were merely feudal dependent peasants.  Zakups were feudal dependent peasants with a loan.  Kholops were peasants who could be killed and sold like slaves.  The Russkay Pravda also served to protect the rights of the free Russians.  It provided punishments for theft, vandalism, slander, trespassing, and debt relations.

There are three editions of the Russkaya Pravda.  The first was written almost entirely by Yaroslav himself. It is known as the Pravda Yaroslava.  The second edition is known as the Drevneyshaya Pravda.  The third is Pravda Yaroslavichy.  The last two editions were compiled by the descendants of Yaroslav. 

The Russkaya Pravda was updated in reference to changing social and economic situations of Russia over the years and finally it was replaced in 1497 by a new law code known as the Sudebnik.