Polish Military Articles of 1775

Abstract

The military codification of 1775 may be classified among the most essential changes of law as introduced the reign of Stanisław August. It contained two parts: that referning to the substantive law known as The Military Articles and that referning to the procedural one known as The Legal Military Procedure. The new domineering tendencies that are detectable in the codification from 1775 intervened with the old noble patterns and were syptomatic of the epoch which shattered the feudal system. The researcher of the substantive part of the codification from 1775 is particularly interested finding how The Military Articles were drafted, what were, their sources, the range of application as well as the influence of foreign and domestic legislation on them. The impact that the humanitarian ideas and the Enlightenment philosophy had on the substantive part of the most important 18th century codification of military criminal law of the Noble Polish Republic (Artykuły wojskowe i Proceder prawny wojskowy. 1775) is worthy of notice (a detailed depiction of the presented issues can be found in the book by W. Organiściak: Kodeksy wojskowe w Polsce roku 1775).