СВЕДОЦИ У СРЕДЊОВЕКОВНОМ СЛОВЕНСКОМ ПРАВУ
Witnesses in the Mediaeval Serbian Law

Summary/Abstract: In this article, the author analyses the institute of witnesses in the medieval Slavic legal systems. In the Russian, Polish, Serbian and Bulgarian legislations, witnesses were used in court proceeding as a significant instrument for providing testimonial evidence. In a number of Slavic codes (such as: Zakon sudnyi lyudem, Ruskaya pravda, the Elblong Collection of customary law, Tsar Dusan’s Code, etc), witnesses were described in different legal terms. After analysing the norms contained in relevant Slavic legal history sources, we may identify two basic types of witnesses: eye-witnesses and court (expert) witnesses. The South-Slavic legal systems comprised a third group of witnesses called the clandestine (protected) witnesses; which were designated by a special legal term “sok (sodzbina)”. Strictly speaking, witnesses shall be distinguished from “coniuratores”. Coniuratores were sworn witnesses who appeared in court only to confirm the defendant’s statement on the ground of their subjective belief and to prove the defendant’s moral credibility. In the Slavic legal systems, witnesses were involved in court proceedings either to verify the facts which they eye-witnessed or (subject to a court subpoena) to help establish the facts.

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