Code of Lekë Dukagjini

The Code of Lekë Dukagjini (Albanian: Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, also known as the Code of the Mountains (Kanuni i Maleve) is one of the variants of the Albanian customary law transmitted orally. Believed to be much older, it was initially codified by the 15th century Albanian Prince of Dukagjini, Lekë. It was only written and published by the Ottoman administration in the first half of the 19th century in Ottoman Turkish in an attempt to stop the blood feuds. It was then compiled by the Catholic clergy at the turn of the 20th century. The collections of the clergy were published in the Albanian language in the periodical magazines as Albania and Hylli i Dritës. The first complete codification of the usual subject saw its first publication in 1933 in Shkodër, a posthumous work of Shtjefën Gjeçovi (killed in 1929) who collected it mainly in the villages of Mirdita and its surroundings.