Poland 1791 Constitution

Article III. On Justice for Townspeople

1. Leaving the cities to their proper jurisdictions within the city limits, we remove and exclude the cities with their suburbs from under all other jurisdictions, to wit, tribunal, landed-property, provincial, county [staroscinskie] and castle [zamkowe], except for pending postcommission matters that have been sent to tribunals. We refer the marshal’s jurisdiction, as pertaining only to the residential city of us the King, to the descriptions of the authority of that jurisdiction.
2. We abrogate secular and ecclesiastical jurisdictions and small towns created within lands initially granted to cities, if they are hitherto within the property, only as to judicature and police; we subject these jurisdictions to the jurisdiction of the civic authorities, while we reserve all rents and incomes of any nature for the owners of these lands in the jurisdictions.
3. Where, however, cities have hereditary landed villages, they shall answer in matters of those villages in jurisdictions proper to property.
4. All citizens owning property in a city and engaged in any commerce or craft shall submit to civic jurisdiction and pay taxes equally, without regard to any exemption.
5. In each city, the elected civic authorities shall constitute the judicial jurisdiction. In these magistracies, matters of all kinds shall be tried in prima instantia [in the first instance]. Cases not exceeding 300 zlotych or in a misdemeanor case entailing a punishment of three days’ imprisonment, shall be concluded definitively in these magistracies without possibility of appeal. In larger cases, appeal to higher appellate courts shall be permitted.
6. For such appellate courts we designate the following cities, namely, in the Lesser Poland Region [prowincya malopolska] the cities of: Kraków, Lublin, Lutsk, Zhitomir, Vinnitsa, Kamenets-Podolskiy, Drohiczyn. In the Greater Poland Region [prowincya wielkopolska], the cities of: Poznań, Kalisz, Gniezno, Łęczyca, Warsaw, Sieradz, Płock. In the Lithuania Region [prowincya], the cities of: Vilnius, Grodno, Kaunas, Novogrudok, Minsk, Brest-Litovsk, Pinsk. To the appellate court in Kraków shall belong the cities lying in Kraków Province [województwo] and in the counties of Sandomierz, Wiślica and Chęciny. To the appellate court in Lublin shall belong the cities lying in Lublin Province, the Stężyca district, the counties of Radom and Opoczno, and the Chełm district. To the appellate court in Lutsk shall belong the cities in the provinces of Volhynia and Belz. To the appellate court in Zhitomir shall belong the cities of Kiev Province. To the appellate court in Kamenets-Podolskiy shall belong the cities of Podolia Province. To the appellate court in Vinnitsa shall belong the cities of Bratslav Province. To the appellate court in Drohiczyn shall belong the cities of Podlasie Province. To the appellate court in Poznań shall belong the cities of Poznań Province and the Wschowa district. To the appellate court in Kalisz shall belong the cities of Kalisz Province and Konin County, and to Kalisz shall belong the cities of that part of Pyzdry County that is on that side of the Warta River. To the appellate court in Gniezno shall belong the cities of Gniezno Province, Kcynia County, and that part of Pyzdry County that is on the Gniezno side of the Warta. To the appellate court in Sieradz shall belong the cities of Sieradz Province and of the Wieluń district. To the appellate court in Warsaw shall belong the cities of the Duchy of Mazowsze and of the province of Rawa. To the appellate court in Łeęczyca shall belong the cities of the provinces of Łęczyca, Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław. To the appellate court in Płock shall belong the cities of Płock Province, the Zawskrzyń district, and the Dobrzyń district. To the appellate courts in the cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Region [prowincya], namely: to the appellate court in the city of Vilnius shall belong the cities of Vilnius Province, the counties of Oshmiana, Lida, Ukmerge and Braslav, the province of Trakai and the county of Trakai. To the appellate court in the city of Grodno shall belong the cities of the counties of Grodno, Volkovysk and Merech. To the appellate court in the city of Kaunas shall belong the cities of the Duchy of Samogitia, of the counties of Kaunas, Prensk [?: powiat prenski] and Upita. To the appellate court in the city of Novogrudok shall belong the cities of Novogrudok Province and the counties of Slonim and Slutsk [?: powiat sluczoreski]. To the appellate court in the city of Brest-Litovsk shall belong the cities of Brest-Litovsk Province and of Kobrin County. To the appellate court in the city of Pinsk shall belong the cities of the counties of Pinsk, Transriverine Pinsk [powiat pinsko- zarzeczny], Mozyr and Rechitsa. To the appellate court in the city of Minsk shall belong the cities of the provinces of Minsk, Polotsk and Vitebsk, and of Orsha County.
7. In these appellate cities, every two years, shall be elected 5 persons each, noble and non-noble, property-owning townspeople, even persons from the civic authorities of those cities, or from other cities of that department that are assigned to those appellate courts. And the persons elected shall constitute the appellate court, with the proviso that persons from the civic authorities and aldermen elected to the appellate court, while serving in appellate office, shall not sit on or judge in courts primae instantiae [of first instance] of the civic authorities from which they are chosen.
8. These courts shall judge matters on appeal from the civic authorities, whose value exceeds 300 zlotych or the penalty– 3 days’ prison, and does not exceed the value of 3,000 zlotych or the penalty–3 weeks’ prison, and that, with finality, without possibility of appeal. In all matters of value greater than 3,000 zlotych, and penalty–than 3 weeks’ prison, appeal as hitherto from the civic authorities primae instantiae we desire by the present law to proceed not to the appellate courts of the cities but to our chancery [zadworne] courts, both in the Crown [Poland proper] and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
9. Civic authorities shall not judge criminal matters but shall send them directly to appellate courts, which have power to judge these criminal matters, with the stipulation that a criminal sentenced to a term in prison shall be subject to execution of the decree. But when he is sentenced to perpetual imprisonment or to death, the appellate court shall send the inculpatory evidence and the decree to the assessory court. If the assessory court deems the decree of the appellate court, sentencing the culprit to perpetual imprisonment or to death, to be proper, only then shall the decree be executed. And we retain with the chancery courts matters of malfeasance by civic offices, as well as of owners’ incomes from cities, and all others stipulated by the laws of the Commonwealth.
10. We stipulate that cities shall be subject to the Commission of Police in matters of internal government and general civic incomes.