Code of law

A code of law, also referred to as a law code or legal code, is a structured compilation of statutes created through codification. It aims to provide a complete and systematic coverage of either an entire legal system or a specific area of law as it stood when the code was enacted. While the reasons and methods behind codification are alike in both common law and civil law systems, the way these codes are actually used differs.

In civil law countries, a legal code typically covers an entire branch of law, such as civil or criminal law, in an exhaustive manner. In contrast, in common law countries that follow English legislative traditions, a code only alters the existing common law to the extent that it explicitly or implicitly provides, leaving the rest of the common law untouched. In the United States and other common law nations with similar practices, a legal code is a standing body of statute law on a particular topic, which is updated, reduced, or changed through individual legislative acts.

**History**

Legal codes were common in the legal systems of the ancient Middle East. The earliest known evidence of a law code comes from tablets found in the ancient city of Ebla (modern-day Tell Mardikh, Syria), dating to 2400 BC. Other early and well-preserved codes from Sumer and Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) include the UrukAgina Law Code (2380–2360 BC), the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BC), the Code of Eshnunna, the Code of Lipit-Ishtar (1934–1924 BC), and the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BC).

In the Roman Empire, codes like the Twelve Tables (first compiled in 450 BC) and the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian (also called the Justinian Code, 429–534 AD) were developed. However, these did not fully describe the Roman legal system. The Twelve Tables had a limited scope, with most legal doctrines created by the pontifices, who interpreted the tables for situations far beyond what they originally covered. The Justinian Code simply gathered existing legal materials of its time.

In ancient China, the first comprehensive criminal code was the Tang Code, created in 624 AD during the Tang dynasty. This code, along with later imperial codes, became the foundation for the penal systems of China and other East Asian states under its cultural influence. The last and best-preserved imperial code is the Great Qing Legal Code, created in 1644 at the start of the Qing dynasty. It served as the exclusive and complete statement of Chinese law from 1644 until 1912. Although it was a criminal code in form, large sections dealt with civil law and the resolution of civil disputes. It ceased to operate when the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, but important parts remained in effect in Hong Kong into the 1970s due to a unique interaction with the British common law system.

In Europe, Roman law, especially the Corpus Juris Civilis, became the basis for many countries' legal systems. It was either adopted through legislation (becoming positive law) or developed by jurists. The accepted Roman law was then typically codified and became part of a central code. The codification movement gained momentum after the rise of nation-states following the Treaty of Westphalia. Notable national civil codes include the French Napoleonic Code (code civil) of 1804, the Austrian civil code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) of 1812, the German civil code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) of 1900, and the Swiss codes. These 19th-century European codifications also influenced Catholic canon law, leading to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, later replaced by the 1983 Code of Canon Law, with its Eastern counterpart being the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

African civilizations developed their own legal traditions, sometimes codifying them through consistent oral tradition. An example is the Kouroukan Fouga, a charter proclaimed by the Mali Empire in 1222–1236, which listed regulations on both constitutional and civil matters and has been passed down to the present day by griots under oath.

The Continental civil law tradition spread worldwide with European cultural and military dominance in recent centuries. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted a new Civil Code in 1898, based mainly on the French civil code and influenced by the German code. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 in China, the new Republic of China government abandoned the imperial code tradition and adopted a new civil code strongly influenced by the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, as well as by the Japanese code. This tradition has largely continued in the legal system of the People's Republic of China since 1949.

Meanwhile, codification also became more common in common law systems. For instance, criminal codes exist in several common law jurisdictions in Australia and the Americas, and their adoption continues to be debated in England.

In the Americas, the influence of Continental legal codes has appeared in two ways. In civil law jurisdictions, legal codes in the Continental tradition are common. In common law jurisdictions, however, there has been a strong trend toward codification. The result of such codification is not always a legal code like those in civil law systems. For example, the California Civil Code largely codifies common law doctrine and is very different in form and content from all other civil codes.

**Civil Code**

A civil code typically forms the core of civil law systems. It usually covers the entire system of private law exhaustively.

**Criminal Code**

A criminal code, or penal code, is a common feature in many legal systems. Codifying criminal law allows the law to be stated clearly and systematically.