Week 16- Napoleonic codes

Question 1

What were Napoleon’s aims with the Napoleonic codes?

Answer 1

Build upon the revolutionaries’ changes to the legal system and simplify France’s complex structure of laws.
Codification of law helped to standardise law.
Clearly define law after the upheaval of the revolution.

Question 2

Who established the French civil code?

Answer 2

A committee of legal experts under the supervision of the second consul established in 1800.

Question 3

How did the French civil code take the provinces into account?

Answer 3

Two lawyers from both the North and South were employed to represent each area.

Question 4

How did northern and Southern areas differ in the implementation of laws?

Answer 4

North- Traditionally used customary laws as the basis for judgement.
South- Roman law had been applied.

Question 5

When was a draft civil code presented?

Answer 5

1800

Question 6

How was Napoleon involved in the drafting of the civil code?

Answer 6

He played a role in the sessions of the Council of State that revised the drafts.

Question 7

When was the Civil Code was issued?

Answer 7

March 1804

Question 8

When was the civil code renamed the ‘Code Napoleon’?

Answer 8

September 1807

Question 9

What key revolutionary changes were introduced in 1807 with the renaming of the civil code?

Answer 9

Abolition of feudalism
Removal of noble and Church Privilege
Secularisation of the State
Confirmed the legal rights of the purchasers of biens nationaux.
Forbade associations of workers.

Question 10

What laws were passed with the civil code concerned with male rights?

Answer 10

The father/ husband was head of the family.
Children were subordinate to their father.
A father’s permissions was required to marry until the age of 25 for sons and 21 for daughters.
Female rights of inheritance were restricted.

Question 11

What reforms were made to the distribution of land?

Answer 11

A system of partage meant at least 75% of property had to be equally distributed between offspring.
This had been introduced by the revolution to replace the Ancien regime practice of primogeniture.

Question 12

What 5 codes did the Napoleonic codes consist of?

Answer 12

1804 Civil Code, 1806 Code of Civil Procedure, 1807 Commercial Code, 1808 Code on Criminal Procedure, 1810 Penal Code