Sudebnik of 1550

Timeline

1. 1549–1550Moscow · MoscowIn 1549 Ivan IV convened a Zemsky Sobor composed of representatives of boyars, clergy, and service nobility to discuss judicial corruption and the abuse of power by local governors. The following year a new code was compiled on this basis, more than twice the length of the 1497 code, claiming to apply to all criminal and civil litigation.
2. 1550–1551Moscow · MoscowThe code prescribed fines and flogging for bribery and favoritism, allowed complaints to central courts against governors (наместник) for misconduct; arrests required the consent of the local commune, and elected representatives such as elders and kissers of the cross participated in trials. Peasants could still leave their lords after paying residence and migration fees on St. George's Day. The Hundred Chapter Church Council confirmed the code in 1551.
3. 1551–1649Muscovite state · RussiaThe code proceeded alongside the reorganization of the prikaz offices and military service reforms, forming the legal foundation of Ivan IV's early centralization. Judicial practice grew harsher during the oprichnina period, but the textual framework endured. In 1649 Alexei Mikhailovich's Sobornoye Ulozheniye replaced it with a more complete system of estates and serfdom law.