Juridisko tekstu seniespiedumi latviešu valodā: Latvijas juridiskās kultūras daļa

Abstract

The task of the article is to provide an insight into the oldest printed texts of laws in the Latvian language: the research examines the printed law texts from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The oldest legal texts in Latvian preserved in Latvian libraries are several criminal laws issued in Swedish Livland in the 17th century. In the 18th century, laws and other normative acts were published in Latvian in various sectors: including, for example, the first printed road traffic regulations. The laws were translated from German into Latvian by Baltic German priests, who also read them to the congregations during church services. At the beginning of the 19th century, the first commentary on the laws was published in Latvian, explaining the law on the liberation of peasantry from serfdom in Kurzeme. In 1824, the first newspaper in Latvian was released, which in some ways can be considered the official gazette – “Vidzemes Latviešu Avīzes”.