The Pskov Charter, Pskov Statutes, Pskov Charter or Pskov Code (in Russian, Псковская судная грамота where грамота refers to a charter or legal concession) was a code of the Republic of Pskov. It had several versions between 1397 and 1467 and was based on the resolutions of the assembly of Pskov or veche, the princely decrees, the Russkaya Pravda and the customary tradition of the zone. Along with the Letter of Novgorod, it was an important source for the Sudebnik of 1497.
The letter determined the powers of the prince, the posadnik (governor of the city appointed by this prince or elected by citizens), vicars, ecclesiastical authorities and other officials. Also established legal procedures, determined crimes, property rights, obligations and inheritance.
Pskov's letter reflects the most important aspects of the socio-economic and political life of the republic in the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries. It protected private property, especially the feudal property of the land and regulated the procedures to register such property, resolve disputes as well as clarify the status of the izórniks (feudal-dependent peasants). Many articles of the Charter were dedicated to commercial matters on sale and purchase, pawns, loans, hiring of personnel, etc. The code also regulated the death penalty in the event of a political or criminal offense. History
The Charter consists of two parts:
Both were approved, along with some modifications in the veche of 1467.
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