Positive constitutional law in the work of Dimitrije Matic

As the first author of a textbook on Constitutional law in Serbia, Dimitrije Matic is most often cited for his work, <i>Principles of Rational State Law</i>. This generalized work on constitutional law almost completely overshadowed the publication <i>Public Law of the Principality of Serbia</i>, for which it could be said was a specific part, seeing as it is the work in which Matic set forth the positive constitutional law of Serbia of that period. Contrary to th<i>e principles of Rational State Law</i>, whose originality is somewhat questionable because Matic had relied on the textbook of German Professor Heinrich Zöpfl, Public Law of the Principality of Serbia is an authentic work that did not have a sample to be modeled on. It clearly frames Matic's understanding of the scope of public law and the way he analyzed and interpreted the provisions of the Serbian 1838 Constitution. Although it was his intent for the publication to be of textbook character, the book Public Law of the <i>Principality of Serbia</i> surpasses its initial purpose. It included full texts of public law acts and their interpretation in the Serbian language, which established the legal status of Serbia, starting with the eighth clause of the Treaty of Bucharest from 1812 and all the way to 1845. For that basic reason, the works The <i>Public Law of the Principality of Serbia</i> and <i>Principles of Rational State Law</i> should be observed as one whole, whereby it is particularly significant to see to what extent the general ideas of Dimitrije Matic regarding the states and law have been emphasized in the analysis of the positive constitutional law of Serbia of that time.