Kodyfikacje prawa polskiego w wieku Oświecenia i spór o rolę prawa rzymskiego na początku XIX stulecia
Codifications of Polish law in the age of Enlightenment and the dispute about the role of Roman law in Polish law at the beginning of the nineteenth

Summary/Abstract: In the first part of his work, the author presents two attempts at the codification of Polish law undertaken at the end of the 18th century, while in the second deals with the problem of a heated discussion, commenced in 1800, on the role and position of Roman law in Polish law of the pre-partition epoch. The author emphasizes the unfortunate fact that both codification enterprises remained attempts only. The so called “Zamoyski Code” of 1778 did not gain the force of binding law, both for substantive and political reasons. Work on the so called “Stanislaus August Code” did not go beyond the stage of acquiring materials and sending prospectuses. In both these projects one can find a considerable number of references to legal solutions of the ancient Romans, especially in widely understood civil law (right in property, obligation law, law of inheritance, family law). The discussion on Roman law and its presence in former Polish law initiated by Tadeusz Czacki, and soon (1806) undertaken by his adversary, Jan Wincenty Bandtke, found many outstanding followers in the persons of J. Lelewel, R. Hube, A. Kraushar or W. Maciejowski. Czacki sought the provenance of Polish law in northern laws and did not see any influences of ius romanum. Bandtke, on the other hand, regarded Roman law as a binding force in the development of Polish law. The seasoned expert of the course of that discussion, J. Kodrębski, states that in the first half of the 20th century it still antagonized scholars and virtually it was not definitely resolved. The beginnings of this polemics perfectly corresponded with the introduction of the Napoleonic Code in the Duchy of Warsaw. Kodrębski perceives in this process the only successful attempt of reception of Roman law in Poland.

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