Legal And Administrative Change Flashcards

1
Q

How did Napoleon help to standardise law and provide an opportunity to define law after all the revolutionary upheavals?

A

Through the Codification of Law which involved the creation of a written and accessible record of the law.

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2
Q

What did legal experts do under Cambacérès?

A

A committee of legal experts established a French civil law code.

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3
Q

What was customary law?

A

The basis for judgement of the law in the north used by lawyers chosen to represent by the civil law code.

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4
Q

What was the Roman Law?

A

The basis of judgment of the law used by lawyers in the south.

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5
Q

What key revolutionary changes were made by the Civil Code?

A

On 21st March 1804, the civil code abolished feudalism and removal of noble and church privilege; the secularisation of state and equality before the law and freedom of conscience. It also confirmed the legal rights of the purchasers of the burns nationaux and continued to support employer over employee and forbade associations of workers.

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6
Q

How did the Civil Code effect property law and the re-establishment of male rights?

A

The father/husband was confirmed as head of the family.
Children were subordinate to their father until marriage and could be imprisoned by him for deficiencies in behaviour.
Until sons were 25 and daughters 21, they had to have their fathers permission to marry.
Divorce was permissible and although a husband could divorce a wife for adultery, the wife could only do so if the husband committed adultery in the family home.
Female rights of inheritance were restricted.
An unmarried woman could not act as guardian or witness a legal document.
Partage system introduced (where at least 75% of property had to be distributed between all legitimate offspring) to replace the practice of primogeniture (where only the eldest son inherited the fathers property).

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7
Q

When was a code on civil procedure introduced and what did it do?

A

1806 and it standardised court practice in relation to the Civil Code.

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8
Q

When was the commercial code introduced and what did it do?

A
  1. It provided guidelines for trade and business, including debt and bankruptcy.
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9
Q

When was the code on civil procedure introduced and what did it do?

A
  1. It maintained the practice of trial by jury including the double jury system in which one jury was responsible for investigation and another responsible for judgement.
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10
Q

When did the system of imprisonment without trial introduced?

A
  1. It incurred 640 prisoners in 1814. The alternative of house arrest was frequently used.
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11
Q

When did the new penal code lay down guidelines for punishments?

A
  1. It included the death penalty for murder, arson and forgery and the loss of right hand, before execution, for parricide (the killing of a parent or near relative). Other crimes would incur hard labour and branding. It did establish maximum and minimum penalties, rather than fixed under AR.
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12
Q

What happened to the number of prisoners between 1800 and 1810?

A

It was estimated that the number tripled to around 16,000.

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13
Q

Did this codification work well?

A

It was the most comprehensive codification France had ever had and it imposed an order and uniformity that contrasted strongly with the chaotic system of pre-revolutionary time.

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14
Q

What changes were made to the way in which judges and magistrates were selected?

A

Only local magistrates continued to be directly elected by citizens, while other judges had to be directly appointed. From 1802, the election of local magistrates phased out. The length of service of local magistrates was extended to 10 years.
Judges in civil and criminal courts were appointed for life. The senate chose judges for the highest court of appeal and the First Consul selected judges for lower courts.

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15
Q

What was wrong with the original was of running local government?

A

Elected councils were in charge, which was a problem because there was no direct communication and cooperation between local councils and central government and the local councils often lacked the money needed to operate efficiently.

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16
Q

Which law created prefects?

A

In February 1800, Napoleon introduced a law revising the French administrative system

17
Q

What were prefects responsible for?

A

For carrying out central authority in the departments. They were to be the chief administrator in each department with responsibility for conscription, tax collection, agriculture, industry, commerce, public work, the fine arts, bridges and roads, public welfare and public education. They were to be appointed by the First Consul and directly responsible to the Minister of the Interior.

18
Q

How were prefects chosen?

A

For their talents as administrators, rather than their politics, although men of moderate values were preferred and extremists avoided. Of the 257 prefects appointed from 1800 to 1812, 68% were employed in some variety by former revolutionary governments.

19
Q

What were the two police forces inherited from the revolutionary government?

A
  1. The military police: the gendarmerie. Set up in 1791 to replace the old royal police.
  2. The civilian police: the administrative police. This acted as a secret police force responsible for investigating and surveillance.
20
Q

How many gendarmerie were stationed around France in 1810?

A

18,000

21
Q

What were the gendarmerie’s tasks?

A

Everyday law enforcement (dealing with bandits, theft and violent crime) as well as putting riots or rebellions and helping to enforce conscription. They were responsible to the War Ministry.

22
Q

Were the gendarmerie effective?

A

They were generally, but there were still gangs of wandering labourers and urban unemployment that could cause periodic bursts of trouble, and enforcing conscription was never easy.

23
Q

What did the administrative police do?

A

They gathered information on habitual troublemakers and ensured that any political troublemakers were rounded up, although they have to call on the gendarmerie to carry out arrests.

24
Q

Who did the administrative police take their orders from?

A

The commissaire de police, an officer appointed in each town of over 5000 inhabitants, it was generally reliable and reasonably professional.

25
Q

Who did the commissaire answer to?

A

The prefect of his department (who was required to ensure the commissaire was fulfilling their duties), but could also communicate directly with the Ministry of General Police.

26
Q

Who headed the Ministry of General Police between 1800 to 1810?

A

Joseph Fouché

27
Q

Who headed the Ministry of General Police between 1810-1814?

A

Jean-Marie Savary

28
Q

What was the Military of Police responsible for?

A

To make daily reports to Napoleon.

29
Q

How did Napoleons expectations of his Imperial administration change by 1810?

A

Rooting out and crushing opposition was no longer enough, they also had to seek out and deal with potential opponents. Surveillance was constant: correspondence intercepted; recipients of suspicious letters interrogated; potential trouble makers (such as Madame de Staël) permanently exiled; and ‘dangerous’ literature destroyed.