Wolfgang Stegmaier addresses the question of the function of constitutional legislation in the era of High and Late Absolutism, using the example of the Prussian General Land Law. Starting from the state of development of constitutional law and legislative art up to the mid-18th century, the author describes, by evaluating legislative materials and contemporary discussions, the legislative claims pursued during the Prussian judicial reform and the societal expectations that the educated public associated with the reform. The author highlights the possibilities and limitations of a society that increasingly found itself in a tension between the principles of unrestricted monarchy and the claims of the Enlightenment, particularly the growing significance of the doctrine of duties, in the second half of the 18th century.