in our opinion, the problem mentioned in the title will always remain rel-evant, taking into account at least the following considerations.firstly, the Josephine metric (hereinafter referred to as the Jm) is the first systematized cadastral descriptive documentation that was creat-ed in the late eighteenth century in imperial austria during the reign of emperor Joseph ii. the study of the Jm (also known as the Josephine cadastre or Josephine Measurement) helps to understand the socio-eco-nomic structure and peculiarities of legal regulation of land (and other) relations in the western ukrainian lands in the past and their impact on the present. in particular, the Jm data can be useful for land planning and land dispute resolution, especially in the context of property and boundaries. the Jm has also been used in land tenure disputes. at the same time, the information on the population contained in the Jm can be useful for research on ukrainian anthroponymy, as well as genealogical research and reconstruction of family ties. in addition, thanks to the Jm, we have invaluable information about objects that have not survived to this day.Secondly,we believe that the study of social and legal relations in rural areas, in particular between landowners and peasants, in the late eighteenth century is key to understanding various aspects of society at that time and its impact on the present. first of all, we are talking about the historical and cultural context. Since this period was a time when so-ciety and the legal system underwent such significant changes as the col-lapse of the feudal system and the beginning of the formation of bour-geois relations, understanding how property relations were regulated is key to analyzing the transition period. Similarly, understanding the legal relations between landowner and peasant helps to identify, among oth-er things, the social consequences of such relations, such as the exploita-tion of peasants and the inequality of people in land ownership. finally, understanding how landowner-peasant relations were regulated in the past can influence contemporary discussions of social justice and land re-lations. it can also be added that the ordering of legal relations in the past determines the legal heritage and, accordingly, influences the develop-ment of the legal system in the modern world.