Napoleonic code

The original Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des français, or civil code of the French), was the French civil code, established at the behest of Napoléon. It entered into force on March 21, 1804. Even though the Napoleonic code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil legal system — it was preceded by the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis (Bavaria, 1756), the Allgemeines Landrecht (Prussia, 1792) and the West Galician Code, (Galicia, then part of Austria, 1797) — it is considered the first successful codification and strongly influenced the law of many other countries.

History

The Napoleonic Code was based on both earlier French laws and Roman law, and followed Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis in dividing civil law into:

Related Topics:
Roman law - Justinian - Corpus Juris Civilis

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• personal status;
• property;
• acquisition of property.

The intention behind the Napoleonic Code was to reform the French legal system in accordance with the principles of the French Revolution. Before the Code, France did not have a single set of laws; laws depended on local customs, and often on exemptions, privileges and special charters granted by the kings or other feudal lords. During the Revolution the vestiges of feudalism were abolished, and the many different legal systems used in different parts of France were to be replaced by a single legal code, whose writing Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès had been charged to lead. However, due to the turmoils of war and unrest, the situation did not much advance until Napoleon's era ensured more stability and Cambacérès, then Second Consul under Napoleon, could work in a more serene manner.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - Law - Privilege - Feudalism - Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès - Second Consul

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Developing out of the various coutumes of France, notably the Coutume de Paris, this recodification process was inspired by Justinian's codified Roman law. The development of the Code was a fundamental change in the nature of the civil law legal system; it made laws much clearer. The redaction of the Civil Code and other subsequent codes resulted in considerable debate within France's legislative bodies.

Related Topics:
Coutumes - Coutume de Paris - Roman law - Civil law

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In ancien régime France, law courts, known as the Parlements, had often taken up a legislative role by protesting royal decisions – to protest excesses of royal power or, in some occasions, in order to defend the privileges of the social classes to which the judges belonged. The latter was especially true in the final years before the Revolution. As a result, the French Revolution took a negative view of judges making law. This is reflected in the Napoleonic Code prohibiting judges from passing judgments exceeding the matter that is to be judged – because general rules are the domain of the law, a legislative, not judicial, power. However, the courts still had to fill the gaps in the laws and regulations; thus a large body of jurisprudence was born; while there is no rule of stare decisis (binding precedent), the decisions by important courts have become more or less equivalent to case law.

Related Topics:
Ancien régime - Parlement - Legislative - Jurisprudence - Stare decisis - Case law

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