CHAPTER 15. -- Cases That Have Been Decided. In It Are 5 Articles.

1. If someone has a suit over some matter with metropolitans, or with archbishops, or with bishops, or with monasteries; and those high church officials settle those cases with them out of court; and they confirm by officially registered notes that henceforth they will not revive those cases; but subsequently other metropolitans, or archbishops, or bishops, and, in monasteries, archimandrites, and hegumens, and cellarers, and stewards are in those positions; and they proceed to revive those former cases, and proceed to say about the former high church officials that those prior high church officials settled the cases out of court and submitted the registration notes unjustly: do not believe that petition of theirs. Do not retry those cases. [Those old cases] shall remain as settled by the previous high Church officials.

2. If any service landholders or hereditary estate owners have a suit with someone about peasants, or landless peasants, or lands, or any service [usufruct possessions] and hereditary estate usufruct possessions; and they settle those cases with them out of court; and they confirm with officially registered notes that henceforth they will not revive those cases; but subsequently the service landholdings or hereditary estates belonging to those service landholders and hereditary estate owners are given to other service landholders or hereditary estate owners; and the new service landholders or hereditary estate owners proceed to revive those prior cases; and they proceed to testify about the former service landholders and hereditary estate owners that those former service landholders or hereditary estate owners settled those cases out of court and gave the registration notes on themselves unjustly: do not believe that petition of the new service landholders and hereditary estate owners. Do not revive the old cases. Those old cases shall remain as settled by the previous service landholders and hereditary estate owners.

3. If a service landholder or an hereditary estate owner sets free his own peasant or landless peasant from his own service landholding or hereditary estate and gives him a manumission document; and that peasant or landless peasant is registered under him in the cadastral books; and if subsequently that service landholding or hereditary estate is given to someone else; and the new service landholder or hereditary estate owner proceeds to petition about that peasant or landless peasant whom the former service landholder or hereditary estate owner had set free, [and alleges in his petition] that the former service landholder or hereditary estate owner set free that peasant or landless peasant wrongly and [requests] that that peasant or landless peasant be returned turned to him; and if that peasant or landless peasant was set free from an hereditary estate with a manumission document: do not return that peasant to the new hereditary estate owner. But if the peasant was set free from a service landholding: return that peasant to the new service landholder on the basis of the cadastral books because it has been decreed that service landholders shall not set free peasants from service landholdings.

4. Concerning all judicial cases of people of all ranks in all chancelleries which were resolved prior to this present Law Code by the sovereign's decree and by decisions of the boyars: do not revive such judicial cases in the future. Those cases shall remain as those cases were resolved previously.

The Arbitration Process

5. If a plaintiff and a defendant, amicably agreeing among themselves, go to trial before arbiters; and they give to their arbiters a memorandum on themselves in which they agree to obey their arbitration decision; but if they do not proceed to obey the arbitration decision: exact from them the sovereign's fine, as the sovereign decrees, and the arbiters shall exact from them their dishonor compensation.

Concerning the case when, in response to that memorandum of theirs, the arbiters resolve their case and give the plaintiff and the defendant differing decisions -- one arbiter decides for the plaintiff and against the defendant, and the other arbiter decides for the defendant and against the plaintiff: in response to a petition from the plaintiff or from the defendant, remove that arbitration case, and the decisions, and the arbiters' transcript from the arbiters to a chancellery.

If that memorandum is written down with a fine for the sovereign: resolve that arbitration case according to the trial and according to the arbiters' decision, which arbiters' decision will be written down according to the court record.

Concerning that decision which is written unjustly: put aside that decision. Inflict a punishment on that arbiter for that unjust decision, or collect a fine from him that the sovereign decrees on the basis of the transcript. Moreover, order that person against whom he gave the decision unjustly to exact from him .10 ruble per day for maintenance expenses and compensation for the delay from that date when that case was initiated through that date when the case is resolved.

If a fine for the sovereign is not prescribed in an arbitration transcript: do not remove that arbitration case from the arbiters to a chancellery.

If arbiters resolve a case, and they both give a single decision in favor of the person whose cause is just and against the guilty person; and that person against whom they give the decision proceeds to petition against them to the sovereign [and alleges] that they gave the decision against him unjustly: in response to his petition, do not remove his case from the arbiters to a chancellery because he himself chose those arbiters for himself. That case shall remain as the arbiters decide.