CODE OF HAMMURABI
Code of Hammurabi, the most complete and
perfect extant collection of Babylonian laws, developed during
the reign of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BCE) of the 1st dynasty of
Babylon. It consists of his legal decisions that were collected
toward the end of his reign and inscribed on a diorite stela set
up in Babylon’s temple of Marduk, the national god of Babylonia.
These 282 case laws include economic provisions (prices, tariffs,
trade, and commerce), family law (marriage and divorce), as well
as criminal law (assault, theft) and civil law (slavery, debt).
Penalties varied according to the status of the offenders and the
circumstances of the offenses. The background of the code is a
body of Sumerian law under which civilized communities had lived
for many centuries. The existing text is in
the Akkadian (Semitic) language, but, even though no Sumerian
version is known to survive, the code was meant to be applied to
a wider realm than any single country and to integrate Semitic
and Sumerian traditions and peoples. Moreover, despite a few
primitive survivals relating to family solidarity, district
responsibility, trial by ordeal, and the lex talionis(i.e.,
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth), the code was advanced
far beyond tribal custom and recognized no blood feud,
private retribution, or marriage by capture.
The principal (and only considerable) source of the Code of
Hammurabi is the stela discovered at Susain 1901 by the French
Orientalist Jean-Vincent Scheil and now preserved in the Louvre.
Characteristics of Hammurabi Code
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered
writings of length in the world (written c. 1754 BCE), and
features a code of law from ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia.
The Code consisted of 282 laws, with punishments that varied
based on social status (slaves, free men, and property
owners).
Some have seen the Code as an early form of constitutional
government, as an early form of the presumption of
innocence, and as the ability to present evidence in one’s
case.
Major laws covered in the Code include slander, trade,
slavery, the duties of workers, theft, liability, and
divorce. Nearly half of the code focused on contracts, and a
third on household relationships.
There were three social classes: the amelu (the elite), the
mushkenu (free men) and ardu (slave).
Women had limited rights, and were mostly based around
marriage contracts and divorce rights.
JUSTINIAN CODE
The Codex Justinianus, or Code of Justinian, is a collection
of Roman laws and legal principles enacted by the Roman Emperor
Justinian. The first edition was published in the year 529 but,
due to conflicting opinions from other scholars, changes were
required, and the final edition was published in the year 534.
Justinian issued the code in order to update the Roman legal
system. The Code of Justinian was the first part of the Corpus
Juris Civilis (“Body of Civil Law”), which is the complete set of
legal documents issued by Justinian. The Code itself discusses
different categories of laws, the process of implementing law,
the people who have jurisdiction to enact and enforce laws, the
rights of people (both free and slave), marriage laws, adoption
laws, laws of inheritance, laws against crime, and laws regarding
the rules of transactions. The Code draws influence from Greek
law, showing Justinian’s open-mindedness. The following passage
deals with the laws of people and marriage.
Characteristics of Justinian Code
The Codex of the Justinian Code was the first completed
part; the codex of the Justinian code was finished on April 7 of
529 BC. The Codex was compiled in Latin and the majority of the
imperial pronouncementswere dated back to the time of Hadrian.
This part of the Justinian Code used both the Codex Theodosianus
and the fourth-century collections emobied in the Codex
Hermogenianus and the Codex Gregorianus—these two codes provided
the model for a division of books that were themselves subdivided
into separate titles. These codices developed the authoritative
standing established in the Justinian Code. The codex of the
Justinian code contained numerous provisions, which served to
secure the status of Christianity as the state religion of the
empire. These provisions ultimately united the Church and state
and labeled anyone not connected to the Christian church as a
non-citizen. The first law in the Codex required all people under
the jurisdiction of the Empire to hold the Christian faith. This
law was aimed against heresies and later became the springboard
for discussions of international law. Other laws instituted in
the codex forbid particular pagan practices and sacrifices.
The Digesta, which was completed in 533, is a collection of
juristic writings that date back to the second and third
centuries. This part of the Justinian code is comprised of
fragments of various legal treaties and opinions; the tribune
took these fragments and inserted them into the modified Digesta.
ENGLISH COMMON LAW
The English common law originated in the early Middle Ages in the
King’s Court (Curia Regis), a single royal court set up for most
of the country at Westminster, near London. Like many other early
legal systems, it did not originally consist
of substantive rights but rather of procedural remedies. The
working out of these remedies has, over time, produced the modern
system in which rights are seen as primary over procedure. Until
the late 19th century, English common law continued to be
developed primarily by judges rather than legislators.
Characteristics of English Common Law
The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system. The
law in Scotland was influenced by Roman law and is different from
the law of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The English legal
system is centralized through a court structure which is common
to the whole country. It is hierarchical, with the higher courts
and judges having more authority than the lower ones. Some
important characteristics of English law are: English law is
based on the common law tradition. By this we mean a system of
'judge made' law which has continuously developed over the years
through the decisions of judges in the cases brought before them.
These judicial precedents are an important source of law in the
English legal system. Common law systems are different from the
civil law systems of Western Europe and Latin America. In these
countries the law has been codified6 or systematically collected
to form a consistent body of legal rules. English judges have an
important role in developing case law and stating the meaning of
Acts of Parliament. The judges are independent of the government
and the people appearing before them. This allows them to make
impartial decisions.
Court procedure is accusatorial. This means that judges do
not investigate8 the cases before them but reach a decision based
only on the evidence presented to them by the parties to the
dispute. This is called the adversarial system of justice. It can
be compared to the inquisitorial procedure of some other European
systems where it is the function of the judges to investigate the
case and to collect evidence
