Seljak pred sudom: pravne pouke
A practical guide for peasants on court proceedings, rights, lawsuits, foreclosures and litigation. The author is Dr. Mijo Lehpamer (1903–1978), a lawyer, judge and later bank director, known for his work on legal problems of the Croatian countryside.
The booklet is intended primarily for peasants, small farmers and rural residents with basic or no legal education. Lehpamer explained in a clear, simple and practical way the most important situations in which a peasant may find himself before the court: civil proceedings, lawsuits, responses to lawsuits, evidentiary proceedings, foreclosures, land registry matters, lifelong maintenance contracts, neighbor disputes, criminal proceedings, etc.
The work is a continuation and supplement of his earlier book Pravni život na selo (1940). It is written in understandable language, with numerous practical examples, forms and advice on how to behave before a judge, a fiscal (lawyer) or in the court registry. The goal was to protect peasants from unnecessary costs, bad advice and abuses in the judicial system and to educate them about their rights and obligations.
The book reflects the social reality of the Croatian countryside on the eve of and during World War II — the high indebtedness of peasant farms, frequent disputes over land and inheritance, and the need for legal literacy among the broad masses. It was published within the framework of the Catholic publishing activity (Jeronimska knjižnica), which aimed at the moral and practical upliftment of the people.
Today, this edition is a bibliographical rarity, and represents a valuable source for the study of legal culture, the social history of villages, and the popularization of law in Croatia in the first half of the 20th century. Lehpamer's approach demonstrates an effort to bring legal science closer to the common man, especially the peasant as the foundation of Croatian society at that time.
One copy is available
