Місто Ковель в умовах запровадження магдебурзького права

Abstract

The administrative-territorial reform that began in Ukraine requires a thorough study of do- mestic and world experience of local self-government. Among many systems of local gov- ernment organization, the greatest interest, from the point of view of democratic practice, provokes the experience of the city governments that acted on the principles of Magdeburg law. The sociopolitical and socio-economic conditions for the foundation of the city of Kovel' in Volyn land by Prince V.M. Sangushko and the introduction of Magdeburg law there have been considered. Among Volyn's cities, where Magdeburg law was active, Kovel occupies a special place, connected with the change of its status from the privately owned to the grand- ducal (1543) with the appropriate redistribution of powers between the owner of the city, the government of the headman and the authorities of the city. The analysis of the privilege of the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1518 for the location of Kovel' as a privately-owned city and the in- troduction of the norms of Magdeburg Law there has been carried out. The order of formation of the bodies of the city's administration on the principles of Magdeburg law, their structure, powers and functions of the city officials have been elucidated. Attention has been focused to the figure of the Vogt as the chief administrative officer, who, together with other city officials, the burgomaster, advisers and lavnyks, carried out administrative and judicial functions in the city. The role of the owner in the city's administration, the nature of his relations with the authorities of the city government, and the influence of the duke on the formation of the city government has been proved. The evolution of functioning of the city's self-government bodies' during the 16–18 centuries has been revealed. To elucidate the composition of the city government of Kovel', the powers of its officials, subordination and other organizational and legal grounds for the functioning, allow the confirming privileges of the Grand Dukes. The system of municipal self-government in Kovel' on the principles of Magdeburg Law was most detailed in the privilege of 1611, in which the rights and freedoms of the city provided by its predecessors had been summarized.