Court List
A viewset for viewing and editing Courts.
GET /api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=5
{ "count": 435, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=6", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=4", "results": [ { "id": 201, "polity": { "id": 278, "name": "mn_rouran_khaganate", "long_name": "Rouran Khaganate", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 555 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"Unlike the Xianbei, they established a more centralized imperial confederation with systematic warrior registration and rules of behavior. However, there was no written legal system or functionaries to administer laws beyond the military.\" §REF§(Rogers 2012, 224)§REF§" }, { "id": 202, "polity": { "id": 440, "name": "mn_turk_khaganate_2", "long_name": "Second Turk Khaganate", "start_year": 682, "end_year": 744 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 203, "polity": { "id": 286, "name": "mn_uygur_khaganate", "long_name": "Uigur Khaganate", "start_year": 745, "end_year": 840 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 204, "polity": { "id": 438, "name": "mn_xianbei", "long_name": "Xianbei Confederation", "start_year": 100, "end_year": 250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " It seems unlikely that buildings specialised for legal proceedings were present, considering that lawsuits were one of the many responsibilities held by bu chiefs." }, { "id": 205, "polity": { "id": 437, "name": "mn_hunnu_early", "long_name": "Early Xiongnu", "start_year": -1400, "end_year": -300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Not enough data, though it seems to reasonable infer absence." }, { "id": 206, "polity": { "id": 274, "name": "mn_hunnu_late", "long_name": "Late Xiongnu", "start_year": -60, "end_year": 100 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " This passage points to a lack of a bureaucratic justice system, which would include courts: \"The power of chanyu, highest commanders and tribal chiefs at local places was supported by strict but simple traditional ways. As the Xiongnu laws were estimated by the Chinese chronicles, the Xiongnu’s punishments were generally “simple and easily realizable” and were mainly reduced to strokes, exile, and death penalty. It provided an opportunity to quickly resolve conflict situations at different levels of the hierarchical pyramid and to maintain the stability of the political system as a whole. It is no mere chance that for the Chinese, accustomed from childhood to an unwieldy and clumsy bureaucratic machine, the management system of the Xiongnu confederation seemed to be extremely simple: “management of the whole state is similar to that of one’s body” (Sima Qian 1959, ch. 110; Zhongyang 1958, 17).\" §REF§(Kradin 2011, 92)§REF§" }, { "id": 207, "polity": { "id": 272, "name": "mn_hunnu_emp", "long_name": "Xiongnu Imperial Confederation", "start_year": -209, "end_year": -60 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " This passage points to a lack of a bureaucratic justice system, which would include courts: \"The power of chanyu, highest commanders and tribal chiefs at local places was supported by strict but simple traditional ways. As the Xiongnu laws were estimated by the Chinese chronicles, the Xiongnu’s punishments were generally “simple and easily realizable” and were mainly reduced to strokes, exile, and death penalty. It provided an opportunity to quickly resolve conflict situations at different levels of the hierarchical pyramid and to maintain the stability of the political system as a whole. It is no mere chance that for the Chinese, accustomed from childhood to an unwieldy and clumsy bureaucratic machine, the management system of the Xiongnu confederation seemed to be extremely simple: “management of the whole state is similar to that of one’s body” (Sima Qian 1959, ch. 110; Zhongyang 1958, 17).\" §REF§(Kradin 2011, 92)§REF§" }, { "id": 208, "polity": { "id": 444, "name": "mn_zungharian_emp", "long_name": "Zungharian Empire", "start_year": 1670, "end_year": 1757 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " primarily nomadic society" }, { "id": 209, "polity": { "id": 224, "name": "mr_wagadu_3", "long_name": "Later Wagadu Empire", "start_year": 1078, "end_year": 1203 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"In former times the people of this country professed paganism until the year 469/1076-1077 when Yahya b. Abu Bakr the amir of Masufa made his appearance.\"§REF§(Al-Zuhri c1130-1155 CE in Levtzion and Spaulding 2003, 24-25)§REF§ \"In the king's town and not far from his court of justice...\"§REF§(Al-Bakri 1068 CE in Levtzion and Spaulding 2003, 15)§REF§" }, { "id": 210, "polity": { "id": 216, "name": "mr_wagadu_2", "long_name": "Middle Wagadu Empire", "start_year": 700, "end_year": 1077 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"In the king's town and not far from his court of justice...\"§REF§(Al-Bakri 1068 CE in Levtzion and Spaulding 2003, 15)§REF§<br>\"In the traditional empire, justice was inseparable from religion. It was a compensatory punishment ritually administered to one who offended against social order.\"§REF§(Diop 1987, 124) Diop, Cheikh Anta. Salemson, Harold trans. 1987. Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books. Chicago.§REF§" }, { "id": 211, "polity": { "id": 525, "name": "mx_monte_alban_1_early", "long_name": "Early Monte Alban I", "start_year": -500, "end_year": -300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 212, "polity": { "id": 526, "name": "mx_monte_alban_1_late", "long_name": "Monte Alban Late I", "start_year": -300, "end_year": -100 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 213, "polity": { "id": 527, "name": "mx_monte_alban_2", "long_name": "Monte Alban II", "start_year": -100, "end_year": 200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 214, "polity": { "id": 528, "name": "mx_monte_alban_3_a", "long_name": "Monte Alban III", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 215, "polity": { "id": 529, "name": "mx_monte_alban_3_b_4", "long_name": "Monte Alban IIIB and IV", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Sources do not suggest there is evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 216, "polity": { "id": 532, "name": "mx_monte_alban_5", "long_name": "Monte Alban V", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1520 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " There is no evidence for a formal legal system during this period.§REF§Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 217, "polity": { "id": 6, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_1", "long_name": "Archaic Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -6000, "end_year": -2001 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 218, "polity": { "id": 16, "name": "mx_aztec_emp", "long_name": "Aztec Empire", "start_year": 1427, "end_year": 1526 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " §REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 219, "polity": { "id": 13, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_8", "long_name": "Epiclassic Basin of Mexico", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " §REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 220, "polity": { "id": 8, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_3", "long_name": "Early Formative Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -1200, "end_year": -801 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 221, "polity": { "id": 10, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_5", "long_name": "Late Formative Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -400, "end_year": -101 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 222, "polity": { "id": 9, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_4", "long_name": "Middle Formative Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -800, "end_year": -401 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 223, "polity": { "id": 11, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_6", "long_name": "Terminal Formative Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -100, "end_year": 99 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 224, "polity": { "id": 7, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_2", "long_name": "Initial Formative Basin of Mexico", "start_year": -2000, "end_year": -1201 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 225, "polity": { "id": 15, "name": "mx_basin_of_mexico_10", "long_name": "Middle Postclassic Basin of Mexico", "start_year": 1200, "end_year": 1426 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " §REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 226, "polity": { "id": 524, "name": "mx_rosario", "long_name": "Oaxaca - Rosario", "start_year": -700, "end_year": -500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " A formal legal system, as associated buildings and lawyers, is assumed absent as the only evidence for writing during this period is from the carved stone slab (Monument 3) at San José Mogote§REF§Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London, p130§REF§ and the largest buildings were used as temples and elite residences.§REF§Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London, p126-34§REF§" }, { "id": 227, "polity": { "id": 523, "name": "mx_san_jose", "long_name": "Oaxaca - San Jose", "start_year": -1150, "end_year": -700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Coded as absent as sources do not suggest there are written records of a legal code or buildings for legal proceedings.§REF§Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London.§REF§§REF§Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). \"The Cloud People.\" New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 228, "polity": { "id": 522, "name": "mx_tierras_largas", "long_name": "Oaxaca - Tierras Largas", "start_year": -1400, "end_year": -1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Considering the small size of polities, specialised court buildings were probably absent. Coded as absent as sources do not suggest there were legal writings or buildings for legal proceedings.§REF§Marcus, J. and K. V. Flannery (1996). Zapotec civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico's Oaxaca Valley, Thames and Hudson London.§REF§§REF§Flannery, K. V. and J. Marcus (1983). \"The Cloud People.\" New York.§REF§" }, { "id": 229, "polity": { "id": 14, "name": "mx_toltec", "long_name": "Toltecs", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1199 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " §REF§(Carballo, David. Personal Communication to Jill Levine and Peter Turchin. Email. April 23, 2020)§REF§" }, { "id": 230, "polity": { "id": 116, "name": "no_norway_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Norway II", "start_year": 1262, "end_year": 1396 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " 'There were probably no specialized judicial buildings in this time period. However, the courts of law were fully functional even if they didn’t have specialized buildings.' §REF§Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins§REF§ The crown appointed Icelandic lawmen or judges: 'These new codes wrought a fundamental change in the conception of positive law as well as in legal practice in Iceland. The old court procedures with its intricacies and formalities was replaced by the simpler Norwegian system. The king was ruler and lawgiver was regarded as the source of justice, and behind the laws now stood the royal authority, ready to execute the decrees of the courts even against the most powerful offenders. Violation of the law was no longer viewed as a private affair to be settled by the offender and the party injured, but as a crime for which the wrong-doer had to answer to the government. The fines to be paid and other punishments to be inflicted were still to be determined by twelve men according to ancient usage. The old punishment of banishment for serious offenses was retained, but fines payable to the king were instituted in numerous cases, and capital punishment was to be inflicted for grave crimes, like murder, robbery, rape, counterfeiting, forgery, and seduction. Other severe punishments were also established. [...] But care had been taken by the lawgiver to guard against hasty action and undue harshness in the treatment of wrong-doers. In a chapter about legal decisions he advises the judges to consider carefully truth, justice, patience and mercy, in order that their decisions not bear the marks of cruelty and hatred. [...] The first lawmen appointed under the new law were Stural Thordsson and Jon Einarsson. The first royal magistrates who received the title of sýslumadr were Hrafn Oddsson in western Iceland, and Thorvard Thorarinsson for the southern and eastern districts, and Asgrim Thorsteinsson in the south-western districts. Others may have been appointed, but their names are not known. In 1279 Hrafn Oddsson became royal merkismadr with authority over all Iceland, as already noted.' §REF§Gjerset, Knut [1924]. \"History of Iceland\", 215pp§REF§ The lögrétta assumed judicial duties: 'The judicial powers were lodged in the lögrétta; the legislative functions should be exercized by the Althing and the king conjointly. But the thing and the crown might take the initiative in legislation. As the king now acted as lawgiver, the legislative functions of the thing were greatly reduced, and it became principally a judicial tribunal like the Norwegian lagthings. The laws were no longer recited from the Mount of Laws, and as the Althing now consisted of chosen representatives, who were soon further reduced in number, it lost its popular character. As the general public ceased to attend its sessions, its significance as a center of national and social life disappeared.' §REF§Gjerset, Knut [1924]. \"History of Iceland\", 214p§REF§ 'This was made especially manifest by the new procedure introduced at this time of summoning people to Norway for trial. [...] The king's officers also travelled about collecting the royal revenues with greater severity that had hitherto been customary. They reproved the people for appealing to the bishop, and in some cases forbade them to pay as large church dues as the bishop had demanded.' §REF§Gjerset, Knut [1924]. \"History of Iceland\", 220§REF§ The practice of summoning Icelanders to Norway for trial met with opposition and was ultimately curtailed: 'This reminder had the result that in 1315 a full representation again met at the Althing from all parts of Iceland. In 1314 he issues a new supplement to the Icelandic code, in which he sought to right some of the wrongs complained of in the remonstrance submitted by the Althing. Regarding the bringing of Icelanders to Norway for trial, the law was made to conform to the remonstrance. A provision was inserted stating that such a step should be taken only if the sýslumenn and lawmen were unable to try the case. The demand for new taxes was definitely dropped. But nothing was said regarding the appointment of native Icelanders for office; nor was any assurance given that six ships would be sent to Iceland every year, though this matter was now of greater importance than ever, since the trade with Iceland had become a Norwegian monopoly. No guarantee existed that the king would respect the provisions in the union agreement. Hitherto he had shown a disposition to place Iceland on the level with the Norwegian dependencies. What the future relation between the two countries was to be seemed as much as ever an unsettled question.' §REF§Gjerset, Knut [1924]. \"History of Iceland\", 233§REF§ The regional courts were abolished: 'The Icelanders also received two new law codes during Magnus' reign. In 1271 the king sent to Iceland a new legal code known as Járnsída (Ironside), followed by another book which bears the name of its main author, Jón Einarsson, Jónsbók (Jón's Book). But, contrary to developments in Norway, this second revision led Iceland further from conformity with Norwegian law. Jónsbók was admittedly based largely on Norwegian law, but it was drawn up for Iceland alone, and it remained in force there for four to five centuries, while Norwegian law underwent many revisions. Jónsbók thus made Iceland a separate jurisdictional area under royal rule. Iceland's system of government was radically altered by Járnsída and Jónsbók. Alpingi continued to meet, but the Law Council, which had been a legislative body, became primarily a court of law. The four regional courts, the Fifth court and the spring assemblies were abolished; new officials, lögmenn (lawmen) and sýslumenn (district commissioners) presided over regional court proceedings as required. Iceland was also assigned its own administrative officials. Around 1300 a demand was first put forward at Alpingi that Icelanders of the old chieftain clans should be apointed royal representatives in Iceland. For centuries after this, most administrative offices were held by Icelanders. Only the office of governor (hirdstjóri), the supreme royal official in Iceland, was held by foreigners as often as Icelanders.' §REF§Karlsson, Gunnar 2000. \"A Brief History of Iceland\", 18p§REF§" }, { "id": 231, "polity": { "id": 78, "name": "pe_cuzco_2", "long_name": "Cuzco - Early Intermediate I", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 499 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 232, "polity": { "id": 79, "name": "pe_cuzco_3", "long_name": "Cuzco - Early Intermediate II", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 649 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 233, "polity": { "id": 81, "name": "pe_cuzco_5", "long_name": "Cuzco - Late Intermediate I", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1250 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 234, "polity": { "id": 82, "name": "pe_cuzco_6", "long_name": "Cuzco - Late Intermediate II", "start_year": 1250, "end_year": 1400 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 235, "polity": { "id": 77, "name": "pe_cuzco_1", "long_name": "Cuzco - Late Formative", "start_year": -500, "end_year": 200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 236, "polity": { "id": 83, "name": "pe_inca_emp", "long_name": "Inca Empire", "start_year": 1375, "end_year": 1532 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No buildings dedicated to justice are recorded in the literature." }, { "id": 237, "polity": { "id": 80, "name": "pe_wari_emp", "long_name": "Wari Empire", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 999 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 238, "polity": { "id": 445, "name": "pg_orokaiva_pre_colonial", "long_name": "Orokaiva - Pre-Colonial", "start_year": 1734, "end_year": 1883 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Courts were of colonial origin: 'The term pure ari is appropriate to describe the white man's labour if for no other reason than that a ‘job’ just like the pure is a place where one spends the day. The new dispensation has, sure enough, its own conflict (isoro) and mode of conflict resolution. Councillor-Colin brings this out by his example of the policeman who puts village men into handcuffs and takes them off to court. In such a case it was the task of the sorcerer to ensure that the men would escape conviction and be set free again.' §REF§Schwimmer, Eric G. 1979. “Self And The Product: Concepts Of Work In Comparative Perspective”, 303§REF§ Institutions remained informal on the village level even after colonization: 'For those who remain in the village, the sanctioning mechanisms are mostly informal. Failure in one's obligations means loss of status, leads to gossip, derogatory remarks to one's face, perhaps even a harangue at night by a man at the other end in the village. The councillor, the court and the police are only a last resort in serious quarrels. I saw a councillor enter a dispute once, playing a mediating role between disputants from two villages, but without playing more than an advisory role. One quarrel was taken to court, but this was not a case where traditional mechanisms of social control had failed. A woman accused her husband of adultery with one of the new Garombi arrivals. She and the husband fought and had to be separated as the lady had an axe; the domestic dispute soon died down but the Garombi woman laid a complaint for slander with the police. Before this came to court, the wife had been roundly condemned by almost everyone in the village; she had repented, had gone round the village to signify her regrets, and been as contrite as her pride could possibly allow her to be. The court let her off with a reprimand. The episode, far from suggesting a flagging of Orokaiva traditional social control, had demonstrated to me that it was still effective. Nonetheless, the Orokaiva, as so many other peoples in contact with Western civilisation, have been quick to see the advantages of a judicial system providing an impartial arbiter in disputes, to whose decisions both parties will defer. At the moment, this western judicial system is an additional resource of Orokaiva law, without undermining its existing institutions.' §REF§Schwimmer, Eric G. 1969. “Cultural Consequences Of A Volcanic Eruption Experienced By The Mount Lamington Orokaiva”, 182p§REF§ 'There are customary restrictions upon feuding within the tribe, which exist in sharp contrast to the standard acceptance and formalization of hostility between tribes. Formerly, official legal penalties, generally violent, were meted out to criminals. Fear of the ancestors and desire to avoid unfavorable public opinion remain the major mechanisms of social control.' §REF§Latham, Christopher S.: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Orokaiva§REF§" }, { "id": 239, "polity": { "id": 446, "name": "pg_orokaiva_colonial", "long_name": "Orokaiva - Colonial", "start_year": 1884, "end_year": 1942 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " During the colonial period, foreign legal institutions became more relevant, with colonial magistrates fulfilling executive and judicial roles: 'Cases of imputed sorcery often come before the magistrate, but not a few of them, I believe, have to be dismissed as unproven. Some of these are deliberately trumped up, but many more are the outcome of mere groundless suspicion. It is probably true, moreover, that but a small proportion of the ‘cases’ are ever referred to the magistrate, for unless the evidence is very strong the native feels there is little hope of securing an indictment. Sorcery and magic, indeed, are often regarded as something a little beyond the ken of the matter-of-fact white man.' §REF§Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar) 1928. “Orokaiva Magic”, 215p§REF§ Courts were of colonial origin: 'The term pure ari is appropriate to describe the white man's labour if for no other reason than that a ‘job’ just like the pure is a place where one spends the day. The new dispensation has, sure enough, its own conflict (isoro) and mode of conflict resolution. Councillor-Colin brings this out by his example of the policeman who puts village men into handcuffs and takes them off to court. In such a case it was the task of the sorcerer to ensure that the men would escape conviction and be set free again.' §REF§Schwimmer, Eric G. 1979. “Self And The Product: Concepts Of Work In Comparative Perspective”, 303§REF§ Institutions remained informal on the village level: 'For those who remain in the village, the sanctioning mechanisms are mostly informal. Failure in one's obligations means loss of status, leads to gossip, derogatory remarks to one's face, perhaps even a harangue at night by a man at the other end in the village. The councillor, the court and the police are only a last resort in serious quarrels. I saw a councillor enter a dispute once, playing a mediating role between disputants from two villages, but without playing more than an advisory role. One quarrel was taken to court, but this was not a case where traditional mechanisms of social control had failed. A woman accused her husband of adultery with one of the new Garombi arrivals. She and the husband fought and had to be separated as the lady had an axe; the domestic dispute soon died down but the Garombi woman laid a complaint for slander with the police. Before this came to court, the wife had been roundly condemned by almost everyone in the village; she had repented, had gone round the village to signify her regrets, and been as contrite as her pride could possibly allow her to be. The court let her off with a reprimand. The episode, far from suggesting a flagging of Orokaiva traditional social control, had demonstrated to me that it was still effective. Nonetheless, the Orokaiva, as so many other peoples in contact with Western civilisation, have been quick to see the advantages of a judicial system providing an impartial arbiter in disputes, to whose decisions both parties will defer. At the moment, this western judicial system is an additional resource of Orokaiva law, without undermining its existing institutions.' §REF§Schwimmer, Eric G. 1969. “Cultural Consequences Of A Volcanic Eruption Experienced By The Mount Lamington Orokaiva”, 182p§REF§ No native courts were introduced by the British and Australian administrations: 'It will be seen, from what I have said, that this book offers a many-sided attraction, but to an administrator the most interesting part is the last chapter. For in that chapter Mr. Williams deals with a phenomenon which has always appeared to me to be very difficult to understand, though it is common enough in Papua, and that is the well-ordered regulation of a peaceful society with apparently no government and no administration of justice to support it. There are no chiefs with any authority worth talking about among the Orokaiva, and the same is true of nearly the whole of Papua, and there are no Courts and no recognized method of enforcing native law or custom, and yet within the community, within what Mr. Williams calls the ‘sympathy group’, life is probably as peaceful and as orderly as it is with us. How this result can be obtained in the absence of any objective sanction is one of the puzzles of native administration.' §REF§Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray 1930. “Orokaiva Society”, xxiip§REF§ Native offenders were tried by colonial courts instead." }, { "id": 240, "polity": { "id": 117, "name": "pk_kachi_enl", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Aceramic Neolithic", "start_year": -7500, "end_year": -5500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No evidence for employment specialization characteristic of a developed urban society. Agricultural and herding would be typical occupations with \"some internal differentiation ... in view of the sophistication of craft production documented at Mehrgarh.”§REF§Agrawal, D. P. (2007) The Indus Civilization: An interdisciplinary perspective. Aryan Books International: New Delhi.§REF§" }, { "id": 241, "polity": { "id": 118, "name": "pk_kachi_lnl", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Ceramic Neolithic", "start_year": -5500, "end_year": -4000 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No evidence for employment specialization characteristic of a developed urban society. Agricultural and herding would be typical occupations with \"some internal differentiation ... in view of the sophistication of craft production documented at Mehrgarh.”§REF§Agrawal, D. P. (2007) The Indus Civilization: An interdisciplinary perspective. Aryan Books International: New Delhi.§REF§" }, { "id": 242, "polity": { "id": 119, "name": "pk_kachi_ca", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Chalcolithic", "start_year": -4000, "end_year": -3200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " No evidence has been found of state organisation at Mehrgarh. §REF§Gregory L. Possehl. The Indus Civilization. A Contemporary Perspective. Walnut Creek, Altamira, 2002, p. 6§REF§§REF§Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge§REF§ An urban community of thousands suggests Mehrgarh likely had some degree of hierarchy for dispute resolution, perhaps a chief or collective decision making body but there is no evidence for any formal institutions or significant occupational specialization." }, { "id": 243, "polity": { "id": 126, "name": "pk_indo_greek_k", "long_name": "Indo-Greek Kingdom", "start_year": -180, "end_year": -10 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Greek legal code seems to have been in practice in the other Greek successor states. §REF§Tarn, William Woodthorpe. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 63§REF§" }, { "id": 244, "polity": { "id": 123, "name": "pk_kachi_post_urban", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Post-Urban Period", "start_year": -1800, "end_year": -1300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " According to Coningham, while archaeologists such as Maurizio Tosi attempted to find evidence of courts and the rule of law, they have only found stamp seals that did not change over time or, by their concentration in a given place, indicate an authoritarian locus.§REF§Coningham pers. comm. interview with Harvey Whitehouse and Christina Collins, Jan 2017§REF§" }, { "id": 245, "polity": { "id": 120, "name": "pk_kachi_pre_urban", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Pre-Urban Period", "start_year": -3200, "end_year": -2500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " In the context of the broader Harappan tradition there are no deciphered textual records suggesting the presence of a legal code.§REF§Burjor Avari. India: The Ancient Past. A History of the Indian sub-continent from c.7000 BC to AD 1200. Oxon, 2007, p.51§REF§" }, { "id": 246, "polity": { "id": 124, "name": "pk_kachi_proto_historic", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Proto-Historic Period", "start_year": -1300, "end_year": -500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§Ceccarelli, pers. comm. to E. Cioni, Feb 2017)§REF§" }, { "id": 248, "polity": { "id": 194, "name": "ru_sakha_early", "long_name": "Sakha - Early", "start_year": 1400, "end_year": 1632 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Clan elders fulfilled judicial, but also ceremonial and other duties: 'The oldest kinsman in the clan, or the [unknown]iye-[unknown]usa , is always heaped with honors, if he is both rich and has never been put on trial. To him pertains the jurisdiction in trifling quarrels between kinsfolk. The following ceremonies serve to recall the religious functions that he (Ysekh) formerly exercised a. At the time of the spring festival, which bears a strictly clan character, they bring to him, first of all, a large wooden vessel ( Choron ) containing kumiss; he pronounces a prayer of thanks to the gods and then pours the kumiss upon the fire. b. At the time of the arrival of the betrothed at the bridegroom’s yurt, they take from the sleigh of the betrothed, and place upon a table in front of the fire place the boiled head of a horse, whose eyes are covered with butter, to whose ears are attached intestines filled with horse’s blood, and a wooden cup filled with butter. After this the betrothed enters the yurt, and stands, having first untied her girdle, on the right side of the komelok [RCH: i. e., the fireplace] where she is met by the oldest kinsman, whose place is sometimes taken nowadays by the most honored guest, who, kneeling, throws into the fire pieces of meat, blood and butter, and blesses the bride. For the completion of this ceremony, whose obvious object is to unite the bride with the bridegroom’s home, the oldest kinsman secures for his use the head, blood and butter brought into the yurt, and in addition the sum of one ruble.' §REF§Kharuzin, Aleksai Nikolaevich 1898. “Juridicial Customs Of The Yakut”, 40p§REF§ Clans also handled criminal cases and litigation in assemblies of elders: 'I shall end this survey of Yakut clan institutions and their self-government by a note about Yakut legal procedure. Strictly speaking the Yakut court is the assembly: the clan, nasleg, or ulus assembly, depending on the circumstances. These courts are under each other's jurisdiction as courts of appeal. The Yakut enjoy waging law suits against each other and witnessing court proceedings. More important matters are always handed over to the assembly. At the assembly the wealthy people usually put in their comments, which areheard attentively, and although the final judgement is pronounced by the chairman of the assembly, he usually simply transmits a condensed form of the general opinion. The ligitants stand before the presiding clansmen with their heads bare, and, frequently nodding their heads and, while making the most important points, making deep bows from the waist, each in turn expound their case. Witnesses are called forth and interrogated on the spot, while unruly witnesses are brought by policemen. The judges always have to sit. In some localities it is customary for the judges to wear caps on their head.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 797§REF§ Criminal cases were transferred to Russian courts only after 1889: 'Nevertheless until very recently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut and went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798§REF§" }, { "id": 249, "polity": { "id": 195, "name": "ru_sakha_late", "long_name": "Sakha - Late", "start_year": 1632, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": 1632, "year_to": 1889, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Clan elders fulfilled judicial, but also ceremonial and other duties: 'The oldest kinsman in the clan, or the [unknown]iye-[unknown]usa , is always heaped with honors, if he is both rich and has never been put on trial. To him pertains the jurisdiction in trifling quarrels between kinsfolk. The following ceremonies serve to recall the religious functions that he (Ysekh) formerly exercised a. At the time of the spring festival, which bears a strictly clan character, they bring to him, first of all, a large wooden vessel ( Choron ) containing kumiss; he pronounces a prayer of thanks to the gods and then pours the kumiss upon the fire. b. At the time of the arrival of the betrothed at the bridegroom’s yurt, they take from the sleigh of the betrothed, and place upon a table in front of the fire place the boiled head of a horse, whose eyes are covered with butter, to whose ears are attached intestines filled with horse’s blood, and a wooden cup filled with butter. After this the betrothed enters the yurt, and stands, having first untied her girdle, on the right side of the komelok [RCH: i. e., the fireplace] where she is met by the oldest kinsman, whose place is sometimes taken nowadays by the most honored guest, who, kneeling, throws into the fire pieces of meat, blood and butter, and blesses the bride. For the completion of this ceremony, whose obvious object is to unite the bride with the bridegroom’s home, the oldest kinsman secures for his use the head, blood and butter brought into the yurt, and in addition the sum of one ruble.' §REF§Kharuzin, Aleksai Nikolaevich 1898. “Juridicial Customs Of The Yakut”, 40p§REF§ Clans also handled criminal cases and litigation in assemblies of elders: 'I shall end this survey of Yakut clan institutions and their self-government by a note about Yakut legal procedure. Strictly speaking the Yakut court is the assembly: the clan, nasleg, or ulus assembly, depending on the circumstances. These courts are under each other's jurisdiction as courts of appeal. The Yakut enjoy waging law suits against each other and witnessing court proceedings. More important matters are always handed over to the assembly. At the assembly the wealthy people usually put in their comments, which areheard attentively, and although the final judgement is pronounced by the chairman of the assembly, he usually simply transmits a condensed form of the general opinion. The ligitants stand before the presiding clansmen with their heads bare, and, frequently nodding their heads and, while making the most important points, making deep bows from the waist, each in turn expound their case. Witnesses are called forth and interrogated on the spot, while unruly witnesses are brought by policemen. The judges always have to sit. In some localities it is customary for the judges to wear caps on their head.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 797§REF§ Criminal cases were transferred to Russian courts only after 1889: 'Nevertheless until very r ecently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut and went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798§REF§ Sieroszewski's material on punishment seems to refer to Yakut assemblies rather than Russian courts: 'In 1867, according to official data, 1870 cases were judged in the upravas in the vicinity of Yakutsk: out of the total, 1855 concerned land disputes; in the Vilyuysk Okrug, out of 3786 cases, more than half had to do with land. Besides levying fines the Yakut also punish a guilty party by reprimanding him publicly, before the assembly, by sending him on some job, or putting him into solitary confinement. The latter is apparently a Russian innovation. Punishment with birch-rods was quite unknown to the Yakut in the past. Even now they have recourse to this very rarely and with great distaste. In the north they did not even know what this was like, and once, in the Kolymsk Ulus, when the assembly did not known what to do with one of its disobedient members and decided, on the advice of some Yakut who had come from the south, to flog him, they turned to me with questions: where should we beat him?, and do we have to lay him down and undress him or is that not permitted? (Kolymsk Ulus, Undzha, 1883). Usually the influence of the commune is quite sufficient to exert necessary compulsion. In the south, where the ties of the commune have weakened, we find disobedient people whose cattle are taken away as a punishment, or who are forced to obey. Many decisions of the clan assemblies astonished me by their strangeness, but once I looked closer into their life and made thorough inquiries into their motives I always found at the bottom a deep respect for the individual and a striving toward equality. Naturally I say nothing about those decisions which are demonstrably incorrect, and not in accord with custom and the conscience of the people, but which they have been forced to make because of the economic pressure of unscrupulous rich people or because of administrative arbitrariness.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 799§REF§ Clerical courts occasionally prosecuted polygamy prior to that date: 'Such polygamy, which is tolerated for the above reasons, and which has existed since ancient times and does not do any harm, had not become bad in the judgement of the Yakut, and no regulations for the abolition of this custom have been set up by the Yakut. However, since the Yakut adopted the Christian faith, and as they have become enlightened by strict surveillance and sometimes by indulgent reprimands from the eparchial priests, it has been gradually dying out, but nevertheless denunciations on this subject are made concerning people who have lawfully wedded wives but keep the others, and people who had several wives before conversion and married one of them in church without leaving the others, who were left at home with their children; in the case of such a denunciation the local authorities, on the grounds of the repugnance of the Christian religion for this custom, pressed formal charges, and the guilty parties were handed over to the clerical court as fornicators, and the cases were decided according to general state laws, which constituted and still constitute and extreme burden for the Yakut.' §REF§Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives”, 14§REF§" }, { "id": 250, "polity": { "id": 195, "name": "ru_sakha_late", "long_name": "Sakha - Late", "start_year": 1632, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": 1890, "year_to": 1900, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Clan elders fulfilled judicial, but also ceremonial and other duties: 'The oldest kinsman in the clan, or the [unknown]iye-[unknown]usa , is always heaped with honors, if he is both rich and has never been put on trial. To him pertains the jurisdiction in trifling quarrels between kinsfolk. The following ceremonies serve to recall the religious functions that he (Ysekh) formerly exercised a. At the time of the spring festival, which bears a strictly clan character, they bring to him, first of all, a large wooden vessel ( Choron ) containing kumiss; he pronounces a prayer of thanks to the gods and then pours the kumiss upon the fire. b. At the time of the arrival of the betrothed at the bridegroom’s yurt, they take from the sleigh of the betrothed, and place upon a table in front of the fire place the boiled head of a horse, whose eyes are covered with butter, to whose ears are attached intestines filled with horse’s blood, and a wooden cup filled with butter. After this the betrothed enters the yurt, and stands, having first untied her girdle, on the right side of the komelok [RCH: i. e., the fireplace] where she is met by the oldest kinsman, whose place is sometimes taken nowadays by the most honored guest, who, kneeling, throws into the fire pieces of meat, blood and butter, and blesses the bride. For the completion of this ceremony, whose obvious object is to unite the bride with the bridegroom’s home, the oldest kinsman secures for his use the head, blood and butter brought into the yurt, and in addition the sum of one ruble.' §REF§Kharuzin, Aleksai Nikolaevich 1898. “Juridicial Customs Of The Yakut”, 40p§REF§ Clans also handled criminal cases and litigation in assemblies of elders: 'I shall end this survey of Yakut clan institutions and their self-government by a note about Yakut legal procedure. Strictly speaking the Yakut court is the assembly: the clan, nasleg, or ulus assembly, depending on the circumstances. These courts are under each other's jurisdiction as courts of appeal. The Yakut enjoy waging law suits against each other and witnessing court proceedings. More important matters are always handed over to the assembly. At the assembly the wealthy people usually put in their comments, which areheard attentively, and although the final judgement is pronounced by the chairman of the assembly, he usually simply transmits a condensed form of the general opinion. The ligitants stand before the presiding clansmen with their heads bare, and, frequently nodding their heads and, while making the most important points, making deep bows from the waist, each in turn expound their case. Witnesses are called forth and interrogated on the spot, while unruly witnesses are brought by policemen. The judges always have to sit. In some localities it is customary for the judges to wear caps on their head.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 797§REF§ Criminal cases were transferred to Russian courts only after 1889: 'Nevertheless until very r ecently and even criminal cases such as beatings, personal injury, and thefts, even for a considerable amount, as long as a house was not broken into, were judged by the clan administration. Only from the year 1889, when an order came out to proceed against the trible authorities if they did not communicate such matters, have thefts begun to be referred to the Russian courts and judged according to Russian laws. For theft the Yakut usually punished wealthy people by a fine which was two or three times the value of the stolen article, depending on the circumstances. For beatings and personal injuries they sentenced the guilty party to support the injured party during his disablement or to pay him a lump sum. Now the guilty are put in prison, and to the great horror of their neighbors they usually leave out and out scoundrels. Such crimes as the violation of women, the breaking of agreements, fraud, and forgery were apparently unknown to the Yakut and went unpunished. But the violation of the wedding agreement was provided for by the kalym. At the present time most of the cases and statements of claim which come before the clan administrations concern the violation of boundary lines and various disputed lands.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 798§REF§ Sieroszewski's material on punishment seems to refer to Yakut assemblies rather than Russian courts: 'In 1867, according to official data, 1870 cases were judged in the upravas in the vicinity of Yakutsk: out of the total, 1855 concerned land disputes; in the Vilyuysk Okrug, out of 3786 cases, more than half had to do with land. Besides levying fines the Yakut also punish a guilty party by reprimanding him publicly, before the assembly, by sending him on some job, or putting him into solitary confinement. The latter is apparently a Russian innovation. Punishment with birch-rods was quite unknown to the Yakut in the past. Even now they have recourse to this very rarely and with great distaste. In the north they did not even know what this was like, and once, in the Kolymsk Ulus, when the assembly did not known what to do with one of its disobedient members and decided, on the advice of some Yakut who had come from the south, to flog him, they turned to me with questions: where should we beat him?, and do we have to lay him down and undress him or is that not permitted? (Kolymsk Ulus, Undzha, 1883). Usually the influence of the commune is quite sufficient to exert necessary compulsion. In the south, where the ties of the commune have weakened, we find disobedient people whose cattle are taken away as a punishment, or who are forced to obey. Many decisions of the clan assemblies astonished me by their strangeness, but once I looked closer into their life and made thorough inquiries into their motives I always found at the bottom a deep respect for the individual and a striving toward equality. Naturally I say nothing about those decisions which are demonstrably incorrect, and not in accord with custom and the conscience of the people, but which they have been forced to make because of the economic pressure of unscrupulous rich people or because of administrative arbitrariness.' §REF§Sieroszewski, Wacław 1993. “Yakut: An Experiment In Ethnographic Research”, 799§REF§ Clerical courts occasionally prosecuted polygamy prior to that date: 'Such polygamy, which is tolerated for the above reasons, and which has existed since ancient times and does not do any harm, had not become bad in the judgement of the Yakut, and no regulations for the abolition of this custom have been set up by the Yakut. However, since the Yakut adopted the Christian faith, and as they have become enlightened by strict surveillance and sometimes by indulgent reprimands from the eparchial priests, it has been gradually dying out, but nevertheless denunciations on this subject are made concerning people who have lawfully wedded wives but keep the others, and people who had several wives before conversion and married one of them in church without leaving the others, who were left at home with their children; in the case of such a denunciation the local authorities, on the grounds of the repugnance of the Christian religion for this custom, pressed formal charges, and the guilty parties were handed over to the clerical court as fornicators, and the cases were decided according to general state laws, which constituted and still constitute and extreme burden for the Yakut.' §REF§Samokvasov, D. I. A. 1876. “Collection Of Customary Law Of The Siberian Natives”, 14§REF§" }, { "id": 251, "polity": { "id": 521, "name": "eg_kushite", "long_name": "Egypt - Kushite Period", "start_year": -747, "end_year": -656 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " unknown." } ] }