LTStraipsnyje, naudojantis archyvinėmis Žemaičių pilies teismo knygomis, analizuojamas mirties bausmės taikymas šio teismo praktikoje. Aiškinamasi, už kokius nusikaltimus ir kokios buvo skiriamos mirties bausmės. Tiriamas šios bausmės prašymo, skyrimo ir vykdymo santykis. Atkreipiamas dėmesys, kaip praktikoje buvo laikomasi Lietuvos Statuto nuostatų. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos statutai; Mirties bausmė; Pilies teismo knygos; Žemaitija (Samogitia); Žemaičių pilies teismas; Books of the Castle Court; Books of the Castle Court: death penalty; Death penalty; Lithuania; Lithuanian Statute; Samogitia; Samogitian Castle Court; The Samogitian Castle Court; The Statute of Lithuania.
ENBased on archival books of the Samogitian Castle Court, the article addresses the application of death penalty in the practice of this court. It examines the crimes for which death penalty was imposed and the methods of execution. The article explores the ratio of requests to impose death penalty, its imposition and actual execution. It pays attention to how the provisions of the Statute of Lithuania were followed in practice. Owing to the lack of sources, the analysis of the issue of death penalty in Samogitia in the 16th century does not enable more thorough generalizations. We can only state that execution by hanging on the gallows was imposed for thefts, while the murder of a nobleman carried decapitation. The murder of an individual of a lower social rank did not impose capital punishment. In the first half of the 17th century the most common offences carrying death penalty were murders and thefts (robberies). They were followed by document forgery, severe bodily injury and witchcraft. Next was perjury. Usually, accusations for sexual assault could not be proven. As a rule, the type of death penalty imposed is omitted in the cases. It can therefore be presumed that most commonly the usual, non-qualified death penalty in the form of decapitation was executed. Death by burning made up around one third of capital punishment cases.Quartering and hanging each accounted for roughly 10 per cent of the cases. The castle court practice shows a big problem of execution of the sentences imposed. Roughly 14–15 per cent of all sentences were executed. It was mostly due to the right to appeal in any stage of judicial proceedings (appeals were most common upon hearing the judgement of death penalty) and the defendant’s absence from the court, i. e. litigation through a legal representative (when the punishment was imposed, there was simply no one to execute it on), even though it was prohibited by the Statute in the event of criminal offences. In around one third of the cases, the request to impose death penalty and its actual imposition were based on specific articles of the Statute. It was mostly in the cases of document forgery, murder, sexual assault. It is interesting to note that in some cases the court strictly adhered to the norms of the Statute, whereas in other cases, especially with a nobleman acting in the position of a defendant and the aggrieved party being an individual of a lower social rank, the norms were completely ignored. [From the publication]