THE INFLUENCE OF THE CITY GERMAN LAW ON REGULATION OF TRADE RELATIONS IN VELIKIY NOVGOROD IN THE XII—XVII CENTURIES

The article examines the nature of the influence of Germany’s urban law on Novgorod’s schras and the development of trade relations between Velikiy Novgorod and the Hanseatic League. The history of the formation of the municipal law of Germany and its variants — the system of law of the cities of Magdeburg and Lübeck — is covered. The foundation of the law of Lübeck, Magdeburg and other cities was the norms on the basis of which relations were built with the emperor or the episcopal administration, therefore the city’s charters of Germany have a number of coincidences. Some legal provisions borrowed from the city charters, as well as the rights of Lübeck and Magdeburg, will subsequently be included in the texts of Novgorod’s trade agreements and Novgorod hiding after the organization of trade representations (courtyards, factories) of the Hansa. Novgorod’s schras — multidimensional collections containing provisions on the organization of the court, the rules of trade, as well as the rules of criminal law and process. The texts of the laws have come down to our time in seven editions. The basis for all subsequent versions of the collections was the text of the secret of the second half of the XII century. Organized nature, benefits, rights and economic interests allowed German merchants to gain advantages in trade and to exist in Novgorod as a corporation for several centuries. Structural changes in the trade relations of Novgorod and the cities of the Hanseatic League led to important changes in law, especially civil and commercial, most related to the economy. Economic interaction initiated the process of legal integration between Russia and the West, stimulated the rapprochement and mutual influence of Russian and European legal institutions, gave rise to new forms of law that are acceptable for today.