Dušan Code (Serbian: Душанов законик, romanized: Dušanov zakonik, known historically as Закон благовјернаго цара Стефана – Law of the pious Emperor Stefan) is a compilation of several legal systems that was enacted by Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia in 1349.

It is considered an early constitution, or close to it; an advanced set of laws which regulated all aspects of life such as family relations, property rights, contracts, and crimes.

In the Charter, which accompanied the Code, it said: "It is my desire to enact certain virtues and truest of laws of the Orthodox faith to be adhered to and observed".

[4] The Syntagma Canonum, written in 1335 by Matthew Blastares, had been translated into Serbian and had received legal authority by 1349, and its articles had influenced the text of the Code.

[4] According to Fine, there is a possibility that the Code was written to supplement the first two parts, by adding items that were not covered, rather than to build a comprehensive legal system.

[5] The Code also provided more material on actual punishments; in which there is a strong Byzantine influence, with executions and mutilations frequently replacing Serbia's traditional fines.

[7] Articles touched on the status in society and in court of clergy, nobility, commoners, serfs, slaves, Albanians and Vlachs (the latter two for their pastoralist lifestyle, than for ethnic reasons), and foreigners.

[7] The Code also guaranteed the authority and income of the state; it contained articles on taxes, obligations associated with land, and services and hospitality owed to the Emperor and his agents.

[7] Greek, "Latin" or Italian, Ragusan, Bulgarian, Vlach, Albanian and Serbian merchants can freely trade without interference and in transit they are free to transfer their goods.

In this case it would not have reflected existing customs and we must then ask, was the ruler successful in realizing his reform or did it remain a dead letter?

and continues in article 146, "also prefects and lieutenants and bailiffs and reeves and headmen who administer villages and mountain hamlets.

And finally article 158 requires that the localities bordering on an uninhabited hill jointly supervise that region and pay for damage from any robbery occurring there.

[9] The monarch had wide autocratic powers, but was surrounded and advised by a permanent council of magnates and prelates.

The ruling nobility possessed hereditary allodial estates, which were worked by dependent sebri, the equivalent of Greek paroikoi; peasants owing labour services, formally bound by decree.

In the context of the medieval social structure, peasants were the commoners who engaged in agricultural work and formed a substantial part of the population.

[14] The code continued as the constitution under the rule of Dušan's son, Stefan Uroš V, and during the fall of the Serbian Empire, it was used in all provinces.

The code was used as a reference for Serbian communities under Turkish rule, which exercised considerable legal autonomy in civil cases.

[17] Dušan Code regulated all social spheres, thus it is considered the second oldest preserved constitution of Serbia.

[18] It is believed that one of the forefathers of the family was the elder of the Saint Archangels Monastery (Dušan's endowment) near Prizren, and that he during the Ottoman times managed to transfer the valuable texts to the church in his village of Dvorane.

In 1779, priest Partenije Popović became a monk of the Saint Mark Koriški Monastery, to where he brought several important books.