Court List
A viewset for viewing and editing Courts.
GET /api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 435, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/courts/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 574, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_1", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England I", "start_year": 410, "end_year": 926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Ealdormen in the shires presided over a bi-annual court which dealt with criminal, civil and ecclesiastical matters, and also declared new laws or dooms. From the eleventh century, ealdormen began to preside over several shires and so a subordinate, the shire-reeve (sherriff), took over court duties in the individual shires. §REF§(Roberts et al 2014: 30) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3§REF§ ♠ Professional Lawyers ♣ inferred absent ♥ No reference to lawyer-type positions in the sources consulted. Rather, ealdormen, port-reeves or sheriffs presided over court matters and plaintiff and defendants represented themselves.§REF§(Roberts et al 2014: 31) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3§REF§ " }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The imperial courts of law were royal or republican depending on ruling polity but did not change otherwise. §REF§Crook 2002: 57. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/29D9EQQE§REF§" }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Highly likely given that they had a formal legal code, law schools and lawyers but this has not been mentioned in the sources consulted." }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 561, "name": "us_hohokam_culture", "long_name": "Hohokam Culture", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": 1867, "year_to": 1918, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "“New courts of general jurisdiction under Joseph II operated on the first and second levels of adjudication and appeal and ignored ständisch differences; all citizens became subject to the same criminal code, with local inhabitants having a theoretical right of appeal from manorial courts to the royal courts. Local judges were forced to know the law, since appeals to royal courts were written, not oral. The regional Estates were nearly powerless to resist—they had no army, the great aristocrats had torn loyalties, and the provinces did not trust each other.”§REF§(Boyer 2022: 8) Boyer, John W. 2022. Austria, 1867–1955. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CG3P4KKD§REF§ “The destruction of rural dependency under Alexander Bach in the 1850s, together with the elaboration of a new, powerful system of regional and local administration—but controlled from Vienna— beginning in the early 1850s, reshaped the Austrian civil service in powerful ways that endured well into the twentieth century… A new civil court system of local and regional courts and separated from the civil administration was charged with the uniform implementation of the Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch across a new hierarchy of jurisdictions.§REF§(Boyer 2022: 51-52) Boyer, John W. 2022. Austria, 1867–1955. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CG3P4KKD§REF§" }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 601, "name": "ru_soviet_union", "long_name": "Soviet Union", "start_year": 1918, "end_year": 1991 }, "year_from": 1923, "year_to": 1991, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "On January 4th, 1923, the Presidium of the Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) adopted a resolution on the Provisional Composition of the RSFSR Supreme Court. It was made public on January 10th, 1923, in Order No. 1 of the Supreme Court.\r\n\r\nThe RSFSR Supreme Court performed judicial supervision over all courts of other Republics.§REF§ “Information about the Supreme Court.” Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, https://vsrf.ru/en/about/info/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2023.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/ECHKATUG\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: ECHKATUG</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 539, "name": "ye_qatabanian_commonwealth", "long_name": "Qatabanian Commonwealth", "start_year": -450, "end_year": -111 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "\"Almost all the inhabitants of pre-Islamic Arabia were members of a tribe, that is, a mutual aid group bound together by a notion of kinship. As one pre-Islamic poet astutely observed (‘Amr ibn Qami‘a 8), ‘a man’s tribe are his claws [with which he fends off enemies] and his props [which support him]’. Unlike a state, tribes have no specialised institutions of law and order, so a person’s life, honour and goods were protected by his relatives, who were obliged to assist him in trouble and to avenge or seek compensation for him if he was wronged. ‘When fighting comes, your kinsman alone is near; your true friend your kinsman is, who answers your call for aid with good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear’ (H. am. 225).\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 113) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list§REF§\r\n\r\n\"So tribal law was customary law, deter- mined by ancient practice. It is therefore inherently conservative; ‘We found our fathers on a path and we follow in their footsteps’ was the reply of most Meccans to the Prophet Muhammad’s new message (Quran 43.22, 24). And it is echoed by pre-Islamic Arab poets: ‘We follow the ways of our forefathers, those who kindled wars and were faithful to the ties of kinship’ (‘Abid 20). It could only be updated either by such aforementioned paragons of tribal virtue, who won the approval of all, or by the consensus of all full members of the community meeting together.\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 121-122) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list§REF§\r\n\r\n\"Among the wealthier sedentary polities of Arabia there existed a more elaborate legal system with more of an institutional framework. A number of the cities of south Arabia had a council (mswd), and at each of the capital cities there was a supreme council where the king sat along with delegates from a certain number of tribal groups, representing the whole nation and issuing edicts on its behalf. Such an edict might begin as follows: ‘Thus have ordered and directed and decreed Shahr Yagill Yuhargib, the son of Hawfa‘amm, the king of the Qatabanians, and the Qatabanians, the council, having its full complement. . . . ’ (RES 3566). In this particular text it would appear that Shahr Yagill had to fight to maintain his position, for he goes on to complain that ‘some people from the council and community of landowners determined and enforced their decisions by swearing oaths between themselves in that temple in their very self-willed and loutish manner without the sanction of [me] their lord’.\"§REF§(Hoyland 2001, 124) Hoyland, R. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/hoylan/titleCreatorYear/items/AUHRSTGG/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 121, "name": "pk_kachi_urban_1", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Urban Period I", "start_year": -2500, "end_year": -2100 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "" }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 443, "name": "mn_mongol_late", "long_name": "Late Mongols", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1690 }, "year_from": 1590, "year_to": 1690, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Existence of courts: \"Organizationof the Courts: The courts were organized as state insti- tutions. Among the Western Mongols there were two courts of justice, the Khoton and the High Court. Two courts also evidently existed among the Northern Mongols, but among them the courts were more closely connected with the Khoshun and Aimak administration. Definite, although not detailed, rules of procedure existed. The number of cases in which Mongols were permitted to take the law into their own hands was considerably diminished.\"§REF§(Riasananovsky 1948: 172) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library§REF§\r\n\r\nHowever, may not have existed before establishment of legal codes starting in late 16th century.\r\n\r\nLate 16th century: “Tümen Jasaghtu Khan tried to unify the country administratively and so included in his government not only Abtai, Altan and Khutughtai Sechen, but also other influential nobles from all the tümens and from the Oirat regions. He compiled a new code that was supposed to be based on Chinggis Khan’s Great Ya ̄sa ̄ or Jasaq (see Volume IV, Part One). Subsequently, Altan Khan, Abtai Khan and, most likely, several others followed his example and adopted their own laws and codes in their respective tümens. But only some of these have been preserved, whether wholly or partially. They were written in the old Mongol script, which had been borrowed from the Uighur, and adopted under Chinggis Khan as the official script of the Mongols. » §REF§(Ishjamts 2003, 214)§REF§\r\n\r\n\"Records of Law: The basic records of the law of this period were the Ancient Tsaadjin Bichik, the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640, the Great Code of the Seven Khoshuns, and the Khalkha-Djirom of 1709. Of these records, the Mongot-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were the most important, being, for a time, the effective code in both Northern and Western Mongolia (Khalkha and Djungaria) After the disintegration of the alliance of the \"Forty and Four,\" this code remained effective in Djungaria until the promulgation of the Chinese Code or Regulations of 1789 and among the Rusian Kalmucks until 1917 In Northern Mongolia the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were replaced by the Great Code of the Seven Hoshuns and later by the Khalkha-Djirom, which also retained its effectiveness until 1789. The Khalkha-Djirom also continued to function among the herdsmen Shabinars of the Urga Gegen until superseded in 1925.\"§REF§(Riasananovsky 1948: 170) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library§REF§" }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 443, "name": "mn_mongol_late", "long_name": "Late Mongols", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1690 }, "year_from": 1368, "year_to": 1589, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "Existence of courts: \"Organizationof the Courts: The courts were organized as state insti- tutions. Among the Western Mongols there were two courts of justice, the Khoton and the High Court. Two courts also evidently existed among the Northern Mongols, but among them the courts were more closely connected with the Khoshun and Aimak administration. Definite, although not detailed, rules of procedure existed. The number of cases in which Mongols were permitted to take the law into their own hands was considerably diminished.\"§REF§(Riasananovsky 1948: 172) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library§REF§\r\n\r\nHowever, may not have existed before establishment of legal codes starting in late 16th century.\r\n\r\nLate 16th century: “Tümen Jasaghtu Khan tried to unify the country administratively and so included in his government not only Abtai, Altan and Khutughtai Sechen, but also other influential nobles from all the tümens and from the Oirat regions. He compiled a new code that was supposed to be based on Chinggis Khan’s Great Ya ̄sa ̄ or Jasaq (see Volume IV, Part One). Subsequently, Altan Khan, Abtai Khan and, most likely, several others followed his example and adopted their own laws and codes in their respective tümens. But only some of these have been preserved, whether wholly or partially. They were written in the old Mongol script, which had been borrowed from the Uighur, and adopted under Chinggis Khan as the official script of the Mongols. » §REF§(Ishjamts 2003, 214)§REF§\r\n\r\n\"Records of Law: The basic records of the law of this period were the Ancient Tsaadjin Bichik, the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640, the Great Code of the Seven Khoshuns, and the Khalkha-Djirom of 1709. Of these records, the Mongot-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were the most important, being, for a time, the effective code in both Northern and Western Mongolia (Khalkha and Djungaria) After the disintegration of the alliance of the \"Forty and Four,\" this code remained effective in Djungaria until the promulgation of the Chinese Code or Regulations of 1789 and among the Rusian Kalmucks until 1917 In Northern Mongolia the Mongol-Oirat Regulations of 1640 were replaced by the Great Code of the Seven Hoshuns and later by the Khalkha-Djirom, which also retained its effectiveness until 1789. The Khalkha-Djirom also continued to function among the herdsmen Shabinars of the Urga Gegen until superseded in 1925.\"§REF§(Riasananovsky 1948: 170) Riasanovsky, V. A. 1948. Mongol Law—A Concise Historical Survey. Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 166: 160-178. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/9JCNB66X/library§REF§" }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 133, "name": "pk_sind_abbasid_fatimid", "long_name": "Sind - Abbasid-Fatimid Period", "start_year": 854, "end_year": 1193 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "multiple references to courts in following sources referring to the Abbasid period §REF§(Tillier, M., 2009. Women before the Qādī under the Abbasids. Islamic Law and Society, 16(3-4), pp.280-301. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7SKACCD7/item-list\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7SKACCD7/item-list</a>).§REF§§REF§(Tillier, M., 2009. Qadis and the political use of the mazalim jurisdiction under the'Abbasids. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/I4769ESG/item-list\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/I4769ESG/item-list</a>)§REF§§REF§(Ziadeh, F., 1996. Compelling defendant's appearance at court in Islamic law. Islamic Law and Society, 3(3), pp.305-315. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TWIBVCXP/item-list\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TWIBVCXP/item-list</a>)§REF§" }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 136, "name": "pk_samma_dyn", "long_name": "Sind - Samma Dynasty", "start_year": 1335, "end_year": 1521 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Inferred from the below quotes, which broadly referred to Muslim rule in India.\r\n\r\nDifferent courts were used for the different law codes (which included the Muslim tashrii law and non-Muslim ghair tashrii law). Courts did not however extend into the more rural communities where village laws continued to be enforced. §REF§Habibullah, A. B. M. (1961). The foundation of Muslim rule in India. Central Book Depot, pp 272-4.§REF§<br>\"Cases involving non-Muslim subjects were decided according to their own particular religious laws by panchayats in the villages.\"§REF§(Ahmed 2011, 99) Ahmed, Farooqui Salma. 2011. A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Pearson Education India.§REF§<br>" }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 548, "name": "it_italy_k", "long_name": "Italian Kingdom Late Antiquity", "start_year": 476, "end_year": 489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Inferred from continuity between immediately preceding and succeeding polities.\r\n\r\n\"Both in terms of ideology and organization, therefore, Theoderic sought and largely maintained the institutions and administrative procedures of the later western imperial administration as he found them. The same can be said of Rome’s laws. Several letters within the collection stress the need to preserve the rule of Roman law, demand respect for it, reflect upon its fundamental correctness, or even cite it. \r\n\r\n\"[...]\r\n\r\n\"Despite the fact that the justice system was by its nature an imperfect one, biased in favour of the wealthy and well connected, it was nevertheless a legitimate system. Where its integrity came under threat was in the actions of the judges and court officials responsible for putting otherwise abstract rules into effect. As in the later empire, the courts were administered by the central administration through provincial governors and their staff, as well as officers of the local municipalities, including the Roman defensores, duumviri, quinquennales, and the ubiquitous decurions, who had the authority to deal with civil and minor criminal matters. Also at the local level was the bishop’s court (episcopalis audientia), which had jurisdiction over cases involving ecclesiastic officials. But it is clear from our sources that this was a much simplified and watered-down version wherein the bulk of cases were dealt with by the provincial governor irrespective of the type of case or considerations of a person’s ethnicity or status.\r\n\r\n\"Outside the courtroom there existed several less formal (but by no means less-legal) methods of dispute settlement. Arbitration, or other forms of dispute resolution such as mediation, negotiation, or self-help, offered an important alternative to formal litigation, which could be an expensive, unpredictable, and even risky endeavour. Unfortunately, the law took little notice of these, and what references we have in the Variae to such informal methods of dispute resolution reveal no more than one stage in what was, in most cases, a lengthy and protracted process.\" §REF§(Lafferty 2016: 148, 162) Lafferty, S. The Law. In Arnold, Bjornlie and Sessa (eds) A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy pp. 147-172. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VQ8MC72F/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 122, "name": "pk_kachi_urban_2", "long_name": "Kachi Plain - Urban Period II", "start_year": -2100, "end_year": -1800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "\"While the necessary reliance on archaeological evidence has ensured that many aspects of Harappan civilization, such as economic activities, settlements, industry, and biological anthropology, have been investigated as well as or better than those of literate civilizations, the absence of intelligible documentary material is a major handicap to understanding Harappan social and political organization and has put some aspects of Harappan life, such as the law, quite beyond cognizance.\" §REF§(McIntosh 2008: 245) Jane McIntosh. 2008. <i>The Ancient Indus Valley</i>. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: ABC-CLIO.§REF§" }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 409, "name": "bd_bengal_sultanate", "long_name": "Bengal Sultanate", "start_year": 1338, "end_year": 1538 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 778, "name": "in_east_india_co", "long_name": "British East India Company", "start_year": 1757, "end_year": 1858 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "The Supreme Court was established in Calcutta in 1773. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/83IG9AXH\">[Sreemani_Bhattacharya 2020]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 250, "name": "cn_qin_emp", "long_name": "Qin Empire", "start_year": -338, "end_year": -207 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Law code consisted of collective responsibility on groups of households for law, obligation to denounce wrongdoers, and fierce punishments. §REF§(Roberts 2003, 36)§REF§§REF§(Keay 2009, 76)§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 426, "name": "cn_southern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Southern Song", "start_year": 1127, "end_year": 1279 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 423, "name": "cn_eastern_zhou_warring_states", "long_name": "Eastern Zhou", "start_year": -475, "end_year": -256 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"The Legalists were the chief proponents of the use of a penal code to control the people. During the Warring States period, the sovereigns of the various states had little use for morals and rites. They were more concerned with building strong states, strengthening their armies, and enlarging their territories. This can only be realized by being able to keep a submissive people. The Legalists proved more useful for their political aspirations, as they exerted a major influence on Chinese traditional law and legal institutions, which were set up under their direction.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MHIPQV93\">[Fu 1993, p. 107]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"Long before the reign of João II the basic institutions of the Portuguese judicial system had also been put in place. By the mid-fourteenth century the court of appeal for criminal cases (Casa da Suplicação) had been separated from the superior court, which dealt mostly with civil cases (Casa do Cível). There was also a third superior court that heard matters relating to the state finances, Jews and Muslims.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKKDT5CZ\">[Disney 2009]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 709, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_2", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Early Modern", "start_year": 1640, "end_year": 1806 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"In seventeenth-century Portugal most disputes were never brought before the formal courts, but were processed through a quasi-judicial system operated at concelho level. [...] [F]or many, particularly the unlettered, it was their only legal resort, action through the formal courts being largely confined to the approximately 15 per cent of the population who were literate.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKKDT5CZ\">[Disney 2009]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 710, "name": "tz_tana", "long_name": "Classic Tana", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1498 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": "\"With the Islamisation of the East African coast, a process that started at least in the eighth century, shariʿa gradually came to be applied alongside customary law and practices. Through travellers’ records, such as Ibn Battuta’s of the early fourteenth century, we know that Islamic courts have existed for many centuries on the Swahili coast. Due to the dearth of sources, however, it is difficult to picture the workings of these legal institutions. Our understanding of the application of shariʿa, pertaining to questions such as who acted as kadhi [judge], who litigated, and where and how court sessions were held, remains very fragmentary prior to British colonial rule, and BuSa'idi rule in particular. As Michael Peletz cautions in his study on shariʿa courts in Malaysia, references attesting to the existence of these courts tell us little about the extent of the kadhi’s interaction with the local population and ruler or the extent to which shariʿa was applied. When we visualise the kadhis in the precolonial period, we should imagine them working outdoors as well as at their homes rather than in an actual court building, with their main role being that of a mediator; only if all mediation efforts failed, would they issue a judgement. We also have to bear in mind that Islamic courts were part of a legal system in which tribunals applied customary law on a parallel level. Not surprisingly, there is no precise information available on how these tribunals functioned and interacted with the kadhi’s courts.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IR3JV8PD\">[Stockreiter 2015]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 314, "name": "ua_kievan_rus", "long_name": "Kievan Rus", "start_year": 880, "end_year": 1242 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"Another basic function of the prince was the provision of judicial services through his officials; the Russkaia Pravda indicates that this function arose already at an early stage, i.e. under the first Kievan grand princes.\"§REF§(Feldbrugge 2017, 426-427) Ferdinand J M Feldbrugge. 2017. A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649. BRILL. Leiden.§REF§<br>\"before sending a baliliff to a foreign merchant the claimant must submit the case to the alderman of the foreign merchants' guild ... a foreign merchant with a claim against a local resident must seek the aid of a local official (the bailiff, detskii, or the tiun ...); in cases between a foreign and a local merchant, the court will apply the lex loc ...\" Tenth century Smolensk Pravda.\"§REF§(Feldbrugge 2017, 464) Ferdinand J M Feldbrugge. 2017. A History of Russian Law: From Ancient Times to the Council Code (Ulozhenie) of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich of 1649. BRILL. Leiden.§REF§" }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 716, "name": "tz_early_tana_1", "long_name": "Early Tana 1", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 749 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 717, "name": "tz_early_tana_2", "long_name": "Early Tana 2", "start_year": 750, "end_year": 999 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 223, "name": "ma_almoravid_dyn", "long_name": "Almoravids", "start_year": 1035, "end_year": 1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"The chief qadi did not usually rule on individual and civil criminal cases in the court. That was the job of secondary judges, called hakims. Judges handed decisions over to officers (awns) of the state who saw that their rulings were enforced.\"§REF§(Messier 2013, 68)§REF§" }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 284, "name": "hu_avar_khaganate", "long_name": "Avar Khaganate", "start_year": 586, "end_year": 822 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "no data.", "description": null }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 210, "name": "et_aksum_emp_2", "long_name": "Axum II", "start_year": 350, "end_year": 599 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "\"The common norms of law that prevailed in the kingdom may be studied in the first juridicial records of Aksum: in the four laws from the Safra (Drewes, p. 73).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RCLJCHB4\">[Kobishanov 1981, p. 386]</a> Suspected unknown<br> \"Later Ethiopian law followed the Fetha Nagast, 'The Law of the Kings' written in Arabic by a Copt in the mid-thirteenth century, and translated into Ge'ez perhaps in the middle of the fifteenth century (Tzadua 1968), but inscriptions like that of Safra show that there were earlier legal codes in use (Drewes 1962).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/F97WR7LV\">[Munro-Hay 1991, p. 252]</a> \"high-quality grave goods, have been interpreted as those of 'middle-class' Aksumites ... It might be expected that such a class would include government officials, scribes, priests of temple or church, middle-ranking members of the army, merchants, and perhaps some of the more skilled craftsmen. Amongst such a class there would probably be some foreigners, permitted to live in Ethiopia because of their special skills.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YB8JYYEZ\">[Connah 2015, p. 141]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 213, "name": "et_aksum_emp_3", "long_name": "Axum III", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "\"The common norms of law that prevailed in the kingdom may be studied in the first juridicial records of Aksum: in the four laws from the Safra (Drewes, p. 73).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/RCLJCHB4\">[Kobishanov 1981, p. 386]</a> Suspected unknown<br> \"Later Ethiopian law followed the Fetha Nagast, 'The Law of the Kings' written in Arabic by a Copt in the mid-thirteenth century, and translated into Ge'ez perhaps in the middle of the fifteenth century (Tzadua 1968), but inscriptions like that of Safra show that there were earlier legal codes in use (Drewes 1962).\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/F97WR7LV\">[Munro-Hay 1991, p. 252]</a> \"high-quality grave goods, have been interpreted as those of 'middle-class' Aksumites ... It might be expected that such a class would include government officials, scribes, priests of temple or church, middle-ranking members of the army, merchants, and perhaps some of the more skilled craftsmen. Amongst such a class there would probably be some foreigners, permitted to live in Ethiopia because of their special skills.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YB8JYYEZ\">[Connah 2015, p. 141]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 226, "name": "ib_banu_ghaniya", "long_name": "Banu Ghaniya", "start_year": 1126, "end_year": 1227 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 401, "name": "in_chauhana_dyn", "long_name": "Chauhana Dynasty", "start_year": 973, "end_year": 1192 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"As regards the Chauhan judiciary, again, the details from our sources are meagre in the extreme. In the first instance the cases probably went to the Village Councils, which are probably the popular courts mentioned by the Arab traveller, Sulaiman. The highest tribunal of justice, however, was the ruler who heard plaints of every type, original as well as appellate. [...] The ruler gave no arbitrary judgement. He generally referred the matter to the Panditas in the Dharmadhikarana, who then called for documentary evidence and witnessed and, in the absence of these two, perhaps resorted also to ordeals.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SI5HWMDE\">[Sharma 1959, pp. 240-241]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 246, "name": "cn_chu_dyn_spring_autumn", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period", "start_year": -740, "end_year": -489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"In the late Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods, several inscriptions record decisions in legal cases, most commonly disputes over land.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/B77BWQPC\">[Lewis 2007, p. 228]</a> - where were trials held for legal cases?<br>\"Court\" for trials existed in Spring and Autumn period (reference not specific to Chu). <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2Q5N2E3N\">[Brooks_Brooks 2015]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 249, "name": "cn_chu_k_warring_states", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period", "start_year": -488, "end_year": -223 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"The Legalists were the chief proponents of the use of a penal code to control the people. During the Warring States period, the sovereigns of the various states had little use for morals and rites. They were more concerned with building strong states, strengthening their armies, and enlarging their territories. This can only be realized by being able to keep a submissive people. The Legalists proved more useful for their political aspirations, as they exerted a major influence on Chinese traditional law and legal institutions, which were set up under their direction.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MHIPQV93\">[Fu 1993, p. 107]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 299, "name": "ru_crimean_khanate", "long_name": "Crimean Khanate", "start_year": 1440, "end_year": 1783 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"the khanate's governmental structures and institutions often followed the Ottoman model.§REF§(Klein 2012, 3) Denise Klein. Introduction. Denise Klein. ed. 2012. The Crimean Khanate between East and West. (15th-18th Century). Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.§REF§ Ottomans had state courts." }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 307, "name": "fr_aquitaine_duc_1", "long_name": "Duchy of Aquitaine I", "start_year": 602, "end_year": 768 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 716, "name": "tz_early_tana_1", "long_name": "Early Tana 1", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 749 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "The following quote suggests that little is known about both Islamic and customary law after the advent of Islam in the 8th century CE, which itself suggests that little is also known about the law before that century. \"With the Islamisation of the East African coast, a process that started at least in the eighth century, shariʿa gradually came to be applied alongside customary law and practices. Through travellers’ records, such as Ibn Battuta’s of the early fourteenth century, we know that Islamic courts have existed for many centuries on the Swahili coast. Due to the dearth of sources, however, it is difficult to picture the workings of these legal institutions. Our understanding of the application of shariʿa, pertaining to questions such as who acted as kadhi [judge], who litigated, and where and how court sessions were held, remains very fragmentary prior to British colonial rule, and BuSa'idi rule in particular. As Michael Peletz cautions in his study on shariʿa courts in Malaysia, references attesting to the existence of these courts tell us little about the extent of the kadhi’s interaction with the local population and ruler or the extent to which shariʿa was applied. When we visualise the kadhis in the precolonial period, we should imagine them working outdoors as well as at their homes rather than in an actual court building, with their main role being that of a mediator; only if all mediation efforts failed, would they issue a judgement. We also have to bear in mind that Islamic courts were part of a legal system in which tribunals applied customary law on a parallel level. Not surprisingly, there is no precise information available on how these tribunals functioned and interacted with the kadhi’s courts.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IR3JV8PD\">[Stockreiter 2015]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 717, "name": "tz_early_tana_2", "long_name": "Early Tana 2", "start_year": 750, "end_year": 999 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": "\"With the Islamisation of the East African coast, a process that started at least in the eighth century, shariʿa gradually came to be applied alongside customary law and practices. Through travellers’ records, such as Ibn Battuta’s of the early fourteenth century, we know that Islamic courts have existed for many centuries on the Swahili coast. Due to the dearth of sources, however, it is difficult to picture the workings of these legal institutions. Our understanding of the application of shariʿa, pertaining to questions such as who acted as kadhi [judge], who litigated, and where and how court sessions were held, remains very fragmentary prior to British colonial rule, and BuSa'idi rule in particular. As Michael Peletz cautions in his study on shariʿa courts in Malaysia, references attesting to the existence of these courts tell us little about the extent of the kadhi’s interaction with the local population and ruler or the extent to which shariʿa was applied. When we visualise the kadhis in the precolonial period, we should imagine them working outdoors as well as at their homes rather than in an actual court building, with their main role being that of a mediator; only if all mediation efforts failed, would they issue a judgement. We also have to bear in mind that Islamic courts were part of a legal system in which tribunals applied customary law on a parallel level. Not surprisingly, there is no precise information available on how these tribunals functioned and interacted with the kadhi’s courts.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IR3JV8PD\">[Stockreiter 2015]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 218, "name": "ma_idrisid_dyn", "long_name": "Idrisids", "start_year": 789, "end_year": 917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "Qadis (Sunnis of the Maliki school) \"administered commercial law and taught in the mosques and schools.\"§REF§(Pennell 2013) C R Pennell. 2013. Morocco: From Empire to Independence. Oneworld Publications. London.§REF§ These qadis do not appear to be specialist judges. Would there be specialist judicial courts?" }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 369, "name": "ir_jayarid_khanate", "long_name": "Jayarid Khanate", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1393 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "e.g. sharia courts", "description": null }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 407, "name": "in_kakatiya_dyn", "long_name": "Kakatiya Dynasty", "start_year": 1175, "end_year": 1324 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"For the disposal of disputes, the law books on rajaniti like Rajaniti-ratnakara prescribe four types of sabhas or legal courts, viz., Pratishthita, Apratishthita, Sumudrita and Sasita. The same authorities define the terms. Pratishthita is a temporary court constituted in a pura or capital town; Apratishthita is the court constituted in other villaged; these two kinds of courts are again divided as Sumudrita and Sasita. Sumudrita-sabhas are courts presided by some authority like a pradvivaka or ministers. Sasita-sabhas are the courts where the king personally awards the decrees. The present 'sabha of Duggirala being constituted in a village other than the capital and presided by the ministers can be called Apratishthita-mudrita-sabha. The local mahajanas are the deciding authorities under the supervision of the ministers. [...] There were no permanent courts like the present Taluku courts, Session courts, High courts, etc. [...] Most of the cases were disposed of in the above manner, through local sabhas consisting of the mahajanas and the king's one or two officers, temporarily constituted for the purpose and dissolved soon after the dispute is settled.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XJ8CF927\">[Sastry 1978, p. 190]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 389, "name": "in_kamarupa_k", "long_name": "Kamarupa Kingdom", "start_year": 350, "end_year": 1130 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"When and how the judiciary was organised in Assam is not known. [...] There were probably courts of justice in the centre and the local units.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/58FRDM4B\">[Baruah 1985, p. 141]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 273, "name": "uz_kangju", "long_name": "Kangju", "start_year": -150, "end_year": 350 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "\"The Kangju further developed a partly urban civilization with clay houses, palaces, and fortified walls. The semisedentary tribal aristocracy lived in the centers of the towns and settlements.\"§REF§(Barisitz 2017, 37) Stephan Barisitz. 2017. Central Asia and the Silk Road: Economic Rise and Decline over Several Millennia. Springer International Publishing.§REF§ Kangju civilization was not developed enough." }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 395, "name": "in_karkota_dyn", "long_name": "Karkota Dynasty", "start_year": 625, "end_year": 1339 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "\"All Hindu theory lays the greatest stress on the administration of justice as an essential part of the protection to which the people are entitled from the government. According to Manu, the king should normally preside over the law-courts and be assisted by Brahmans and experienced councillors. The king is to hold court in a separate building in his own palace. The delegation of this regal duty to a chief justice is equally well known to Indian tradition. [...] Below the chief-justice there were other subordinate judges who were designated as Tantrapati and Rajasthanamantrinah. Judicial powers seem to have been exercised by other civil officers too: for instance the accounts-office called Seda is described as a Rajasthana in one of the passages of the Chronicle.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XJWSDUQS\">[Bamzai 1962, pp. 207-208]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 241, "name": "ao_kongo_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Congo", "start_year": 1491, "end_year": 1568 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "absent", "comment": null, "description": "\"the governors' duties ranged from dispensing justice to providing a court of appeal for the king's subjects to maintaining the roads.\"§REF§(Gondola 2002, 28) Ch Didier Gondola. 2002. The History of Congo. Greenwood Publishing Group. Westport.§REF§ - where would the court of appeal have been held - governor's residence?" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 326, "name": "it_sicily_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Sicily - Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties", "start_year": 1194, "end_year": 1281 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Allshorn 1912, 108)§REF§ Civil and criminal cases. §REF§(Giannone 1729, 550<a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external autonumber\" href=\"http://archive.org/stream/civilhistoryofki01gian#page/550/mode/2up\">[5]</a>)§REF§" }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 257, "name": "cn_later_qin_dyn", "long_name": "Later Qin Kingdom", "start_year": 386, "end_year": 417 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Under the Eastern Han the magistrate of the county enforced law and order and judged civil and criminal cases§REF§(Bielenstein 1986, 509) RA or expert did not provided exact reference. It is either: [ Bielenstein, H. The Institutions of Later Han. ] or [ Bielenstein, H. Wang Mang, The Restoration of the Han Dynasty, and Later Han. ] in Twitchett, D and Loewe, M eds. 1986. The Cambridge History of China Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC–AD 220. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.§REF§ but it is not yet known to us for certain whether the individual was a specialist at judging law.<br>Yao Xing (394-416 CE) of the Later Qin focused on \"the rule of law\" and \"brought a sense of order.\"§REF§(Xiong 2009, 14) Xiong, V C. 2009. Historical Dictionary of Medieval China. Scarecrow Press, Inc., Plymouth.§REF§ He possibly did this through institutions as complex as those that existed under the Eastern Han." }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 815, "name": "es_castile_crown", "long_name": "Crown of Castile", "start_year": 1231, "end_year": 1515 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": "" }, { "id": 401, "polity": { "id": 212, "name": "sd_makuria_k_1", "long_name": "Makuria Kingdom I", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 618 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 402, "polity": { "id": 215, "name": "sd_makuria_k_2", "long_name": "Makuria Kingdom II", "start_year": 619, "end_year": 849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Court", "court": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null } ] }