Salus populi suprema lex esto in Jan Marquart’s 1650 Dissertation

Abstract

In May 1650, a dissertation by Jan (Ioannes) Marquart titled Dissertatio iuridica De damno iniuriae was published in the academic printing house in Vilnius. From the information presented on the title page of the dissertation, we can surmise that it was the basis for awarding the author a doctorate. Jan Marquart was sometimes mentioned as one of the first graduates of the Faculty of Law of the Vilnius Academy from the early period of its functioning, namely 1644–1655. For the author of De damno iniuriæ, the Latin paremia Salus populi suprema lex esto was to be the keynote of the dissertation, the guideline for further considerations. Its uniqueness for Jan Marquart can be evidenced by the way it is cited in the dissertation and the special font size used to highlight it. The paremia was also intended to justify the need for a synthetic discussion of regulations regarding the protection of the state and its interests, for which the author of De damno iniuriæ devoted several editorial units bearing the Roman numerals: I through VI. Jan Marquart recognized that Justinian I the Great, in codifying the law and adapting it to changing socio-economic relations, was guided in his codification endeavor by the principle that the welfare of the republic is the supreme law. On the other hand, it is surprising that the author of De damno iniuriæ cited the Law of the Twelve Tables, without specifying a particular table, as an indication of the origin of this fundamental principle, which is a guarantor of the proper exercise of power. It is difficult to say whether he consciously overlooked the fact that several centuries later, in Cicero’s De legibus, we can find this paremia as an indication of the duties of citizens to the state. Perhaps Jan Marquart’s reference precisely to the Law of the Twelve Tables was intended to raise the profile of the cited maxim and indicate its statutory, fundamental nature.