State and prospects of research of Lithuanian public law history to the end of the 18th century

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami LDK viešosios teisės istorijos tyrimų metodologiniai pagrindai, aptariama LDK viešosios teisės istorijos tyrimų spragos ir jų šalinimo perspektyvos, kaip alternatyva tradicinei LDK teisės vientisumo doktrinai pateikiama pliuralistinė tos teisės vizija.In the article methodological bases of research of history of public law of Lithuania to the end of 18th century are examined, problems of study of history of public law and methods of solution are discussed. As the alternative of that existing doctrine is proposed the pluralistic concept of Lithuanian public law – in the same territory there were many alternative systems, each of which had their public and private law. The first level of studies is a study of law of individual corporations and associations. The second level is comparative analysis of these laws for the purpose of obtaining general signs. The third level is further generalization for the purpose of obtaining a general characteristic of Lithuanian public law to the end of the 18th century. The sociological theory of law must become methodological basis of these studies. Research must be carried out in the context of history of the Western legal tradition. It must widely be used the methods of comparative jurisprudence. The history of public law can be considered as the sequential change of three types of the law – ancient (existed in Lithuania to 1387), medieval (1387–1918) and modern (since 1918)