Kingdom of Italy Research Papers (original) (raw)
Napoleon’s Italian kingdom (1805-1809) and legislative and judicial changes in Istria DARKO DAROVEC For a short period spanning front the Treaty of Pressburg (Bratislava) of December 26, 1805, to the establishment of the Illyrian... more
Napoleon’s Italian kingdom (1805-1809) and legislative and judicial changes in Istria
DARKO DAROVEC
For a short period spanning front the Treaty of Pressburg (Bratislava) of December 26, 1805, to the establishment of the Illyrian Provinces in 1809, the ex-Venetian Istria formed part of the Italian kingdom. After its official incorporation into the Italian Kingdom on May 9, 1806, the region saw the introduction of the Napoleonic Code (Code Na¬poleon). Consequently, the town statutes adopted during the Venetian rule were annulled, and the highest provincial court was re-established in the town of Koper. The institution employed a civil judge, financial commissioner, and police representative and housed courts of first and second instance. All other courts, except that in Poreč, were abolished, while the Supreme Court was held only in Milan, the capital of the Italian Kingdom.
Despite the introduction of the Napoleonic Code, the Austrian Pe¬nal Code, Civil Code and penal suit remained valid until the official abolition of the Austrian Penal Code in the autumn of 1807. Moreover, the old authority structures functioned till the end of 1806.
Inner territorial division was introduced as late as in the spring of 1807 and legalized through a decree signed by Napoleon in December that same year. The former Venetian lstria was divided into two districts: that of Koper, stretching from the hillock of Milje (Muggia) to the Lim Bay, and that of Rovinj, which encompassed the remaining territory lying to the south of the Bay. The districts were subdivided into seven cantons, largely overlapping with the districts demarcated under Austrian rule, while the cantons were divided into municipali¬ties, which, from then on also encompassed feudal estates, which the new regime deprived of their anciene régime character. The area also witnessed the abolition of patrimonial rule. The towns, squares and estates were no longer seats of administrative, military and judicial authorities; from then on, they were nothing but territorial units within a uniform ad¬ministrative system.
The field of the administration of justice saw the abolition of the dis¬trict courts of first order, as well as of the Poreč Criminal Court. Minor cases were dealt with by municipal judges and village mayors (meriga). The only court left intact was the Koper Appeal Court, though the decree of June 17, 1806, renamed it into a Civil and Criminal Court ('Corte di Giudizio civile e criminale).
In accordance with the principles of French law, the new regime separated the judiciary and administrative powers and in the first half of 1806 brought the Istrian judicial system in line with that of the Ital¬ian kingdom. The introduction of the Napoleonic Code was followed by gradual abolition of the former civil legislation, which gave rise to an altogether new juridical situation and legal system and, consequently, brought about radical changes in judiciary (Bollettino delle Leggi del Reg¬no d’Italia. Milano, Reale stamperia (to 1805 Bolletino delle Leggi della Repubblica Italiana), 1802.-, 433-447). From then on, the judicial net¬work comprised the following courts: 7 Courts of Peace (Giudici sommari or Giudici di pace) with competence in civil and criminal proceedings in the cantons, mostly related to mutual quarrels and to tax conflicts, etc.; the Koper Civil and Criminal Court {Corte di Giustizia civile e crimi¬nale), which became the Court of Session of the Istrian Department; the Milan Supreme Court (Tribunale di Cassazione de Regno); and the Koper Commercial Court (Tribunale di Commercio) with competence in cases related to the trade by sea or land. The latter was established due to the continental blockage and mostly passed judgment on the confiscation of English vessels, arson of English goods and contraband.
Despite its incorporation into the Italian kingdom, from 1805 to 1809, Istria was physically separated from it by a belt of Austrian terri¬tory, with Trieste at its centre. The continental blockage did not prevent the town from prospering and taking over Venetian trade. Not sur¬prisingly, after 1805 Napoleon often considered the idea of annexing Trieste, in particular when planning his eastern policy, in 1808, his Minister of Foreign Affairs Champagny suggested that he should an¬nex the whole Austrian territory lying to the south of the Vipava and Kolpa rivers. As for the future administration of the Austrian lands that the French intended to annex, Champagny’s report to Napoleon of February 1808 offered two possibilities: the incorporation into Italy or the establishment of a special political entity encompassing the lands located on the eastern Adriatic coast. The plan was finally realized after yet another war with Austria or, more precisely, after the signing of the Treaty of Schönbrunn signed on October 14, 1809, when the Illyrian Provinces were established.
To recapitulate, Napoleon’s rule introduced fairly radical changes into the traditional Istrian community that caused several social shifts and were often met with strong resistance from several social strata.