berkanun

Berkanun is a term that appears infrequently in written scholarship and does not correspond to a single, clearly defined concept. In most reliable sources, the established term for a body of law in Balkan and Ottoman contexts is kanun, which designates a customary or statutory code. The form berkanun is sometimes encountered in discussions of regional legal traditions, but its precise meaning, scope, and historical period are not consistently defined and it is not treated as a distinct legal system in mainstream historiography.

Possible interpretations of berkanun include that it is a misspelling or transliteration variant of kanun, a hyphenated or compound form in Turkish or Albanian-language texts intended to convey meanings such as “the great law” or “official law,” or a modern proper noun used as the name of an organization or project. However, there is no consensus or widely cited scholarship establishing a specific definition for berkanun, and treatment varies by text and author.

Because kanun is the well-documented term in related traditions, discussions of berkanun typically note the lack of a stable, identifiable meaning. If a particular source uses berkanun with a defined sense, that meaning should be interpreted in light of that source’s context rather than assuming a universal definition.

See also: Kanun, Ottoman law, customary law.