Анотація | Abstract
The article deals with the debated issue of time, place and form of advocacy origin in the territory of modern Ukraine. The author provides an analysis of rese‑archr’ perspectives outlining that advocacy in Ukraine stems from the Kyiv Rus time of Ruska Pravda in the form of natural representation in court by relatives of both parties, witnesses that heard information, eyewitnesses, and friends called “good people”.
It has been substantiated that Ruska Pravda implied the principle of personal appearance of parties in the court of law. There was nothing about legal representation in Ruska Pravda. Moreover, its reasoning based on Pskov and Novgorod Judicial Charters is not correct due to the fact that legal acts of Ukrainian people, namely Lithuanian Statutes, were successors in title of Ruska Pravda.
Eyewitnesses in the times of Ruska Pravda were the witnesses of a fact or an event, in other words, they were the witnesses in the modern meaning of the word whereas the witnesses that heard something were the witnesses of good fame of a party they testified for. During the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the were transformed into compurgators, or the people who rebutted the charges against the accused in committing a crime.
Ukrainian advocacy was incubated in the Grand of Lithuania when the essential grounds and circumstances emerged. Bu this, a mix of factors is meant, as for (i) the transition from natural to monetary farming, (ii) real estate and land trade development, (iii) extension of enacted law and its preponderance over a custom, etc. These factors necessitated individuals, well-gualified in the sphere of law and litigation, who could professionally represent people in court. The above-mentioned individuals appeared in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the beginning of 16th century.
Their professional nominations varied, as for spokespeople, ambassadors, procurators etc. By this, it is meant that Ukrainian advocacy emerged through an ‘procuratorship’ in the first Lithuanian Statute since the term ‘advocatus’ was used to denote vogts of the villages under Magdeburg right. That is why, September 29, when the first Lithuanian Statute was adopted, has to be considered the Day of Ukrainian Advocacy.