the swedish court and appeal system gulations established in Swedish era. Gustav Johann von Buddenbrock published in the beginning of the 19th century (1802-1821) a collection of Livonian laws, Sammlung der Gesetze, welche das heutige livländische Landrecht enthalten, kritisch bearbeitet, the second volume of which, divided into three substantial sub-volumes (2024 pages in total), only includes laws and regulations from the Swedish era. These were, therefore, still recognised as valid in early nineteenth century.55 However, they did not remain entirely unchanged, which is why the numerous comments by Buddenbrock have to be taken into account when discussing the Livonian law of the Russian period. Nevertheless, this shows that in both the structure and functioning of the Livonian court system, as well as its form of procedure, are characterised more by continuity than by any big disruptions. The only innovative tendency that is clearly evident, is the strengthering of the role of nobility in the justice system. For example, there had been a special Burggrafengericht in Riga, established already in the Polish era and in function throughout the Swedish times. Its role had been to deal with the cases involving nobles. The chairman and assessors, however, had been magistrates of the town. After the death of Peter the Great, when the new ruler reaffirmed the privileges of estates, Livonian knighthood managed to push through the abolishment of this court. Even though the town of Riga later submitted numerous petitions to the Tsar to have the decision changed, the Burggrafengericht of Riga was not reestablished.56 The nobility similarly strengthened its position in land courts and their instance of appellation, the High Court. The Estate law of 1845 set down the strong principle that all judges and assessors had to be appointed from among the members of the local knighthood.57 The code 55 The Swedish-era legal acts valid in Estonia had been published already in the eighteenth century. Even though it only contained a selection of those, the text fills ca 760 pages: Auswahl der Verordnungen 1777. 56 Bunge, Friedrich Georg 1874 p. 305. 57 Cf. Provinzialrecht II 1845: Ständerecht § 359:Die Livländische Ritterschaft wählt: 1. Zur innern Verwaltung der Ritterschaft: […] 2. Zur Verwaltung der Kirchen der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Konfession: …3. Zur allgemeinen Justizpflege: 1) Den Presidenten, den Vicepresidenten, die Land232
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