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{{Short description|Legislation that purports to cover a complete system of laws}}
{{About|exhaustive legislations|municipal regulations|legal code (municipal)|the television series|Code of Law{{!}}Code of Law (TV series)}}

[[File:Code Civil 1804.png|thumb|First page of the 1804 original edition of the [[Napoleonic Code]]]]

<ref>{{Cite web |last=DOI desativado |first=DOI desativado |date=2023-10-11 |title=DOI desativado |url=https://doi.org/10.29327/7321905 |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=doi.org}}</ref> A '''code of law''', also called a '''law code''' or '''legal code''', is a systematic collection of [[statute]]s. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the code was enacted, by a process of [[Codification (law)|codification]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Code|volume=6|pages=632–634}}</ref> Though the process and motivations for codification are similar in different [[Common law#History|common law]] and [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems, their usage is different.

In a civil law country, a code of law typically exhaustively covers the complete system of law, such as civil law or [[criminal law]].{{Explain|reason=This is very barebones and does not give a good explaination.|date=May 2024}}

By contrast, in a common law country with legislative practices in the [[English law#Common law|English tradition]], codes modify the existing common law only to the extent of its express or implicit provision, but otherwise leaves the common law intact. In the [[United States]] and other common law countries that have adopted similar legislative practices, a code of law is a standing body of statute law on a particular area, which is added to, subtracted from, or otherwise modified by individual legislative enactments.

== History ==
{{See also|List of ancient legal codes}}

The legal code was a common feature of the legal systems of the ancient Middle East. Tablets discovered in the ancient city of [[Ebla]] (Tell Mardikh in modern-day [[Syria]]) provide the earliest known evidence of a law code, dating back to 2400 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Law code {{!}} Ancient Legal Systems & Modern Legislation |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/law-code |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuiper |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cb0Oxjvhi7sC&dq=oldest+code+of+law+ebla&pg=PA24 |title=Mesopotamia: The World's Earliest Civilization |date=2010-08-15 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-61530-112-6 |language=en}}</ref> In addition, The UrukAgina Law Code (2380–2360 BC),<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Mesopotamian Law Codes: The Human Roots of Moses's Laws |first1=Stanley |last1=Wilkin |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.34598.78408 |doi-access=free |date= June 2019 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333903196|website=Research Gate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173757/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333903196_MESOPOTAMIAN_LAW_CODES_the_HUMAN_ROOTS_OF_MOSES%27_LAWS |archive-date= Jul 13, 2023 }}</ref> the [[Sumer]]ian [[Code of Ur-Nammu]] ({{circa|2100}}–2050 BC), [[Laws of Eshnunna|the Code of Eshnunna]] (approximately 100 years before Lipit-Ishtar),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Law and Authority in Ancient Mesopotamia |author= Basim Fuad Musallam |date=Summer 1965|url=https://scholarworks.aub.edu.lb/bitstream/handle/10938/961/t-726.pdf?sequence=1|website=AUB ScholarWorks |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173757/https://scholarworks.aub.edu.lb/bitstream/handle/10938/961/t-726.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date= Jul 13, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Laws of Eshnunna |first1=Reuven |last1=Yaron |date=1988|url=https://www.noor-book.com/en/ebook-Laws-of-Eshnunna-pdf |website=Noor Library |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713173757/https://www.noor-book.com/en/ebook-Laws-of-Eshnunna-pdf |archive-date= Jul 13, 2023 }}</ref> the [[Code of Lipit-Ishtar]] (1934–1924 BC),<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Code of Lipit-Ishtar {{!}} by Francis R. Steele, 1948|url=https://toaz.info/doc-viewer|website=www.toaz.info}}</ref> and the [[Babylon]]ian [[Code of Hammurabi]] ({{circa|1760 BC}}), are among the earliest and best preserved legal codes,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cuneiform law {{!}} legal body|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/cuneiform-law|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-05-26}}</ref> originating from [[Sumer]], [[Mesopotamia]] (now [[Iraq]]).

In the [[Roman Empire]], a number of codifications were developed, such as the [[Twelve Tables]] of Roman law (first compiled in 450 BC) and the ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]'' of Justinian, also known as the Justinian Code (429–534 AD). However, these law codes did not exhaustively describe the Roman legal system. The Twelve Tables were limited in scope, and most legal doctrines were developed by the ''[[pontifex|pontifices]]'', who interpreted the tables to deal with situations far beyond what is contained therein. The Justinian Code collected together existing legal material at the time.

In ancient [[China]], the first comprehensive criminal code was the [[Tang Code]], created in 624 AD in the [[Tang dynasty]]. This, and subsequent imperial codes, formed the basis for the penal system of both 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 upon the founding of the [[Qing dynasty]]. This code was the exclusive and exhaustive statement of Chinese law between 1644 and 1912. Though it was in form a criminal code, large parts of the code dealt with civil law matters and the settlement of civil disputes. The code ceased its operation upon the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, but significant provisions remained in operation in [[Hong Kong]] until well into the 1970s due to a peculiar interaction between it and the [[United Kingdom|British]] common law system.

In Europe, [[Roman law]], especially the ''[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]'', became the basis of the legal systems of many countries. Roman law was either adopted by legislation (becoming [[positive law]]), or through processing by jurists. The accepted Roman law is usually then codified and forms part of the central Code. The codification movement gathered pace after the rise of [[nation-state]]s after the [[Peace of Westphalia|Treaty of Westphalia]]. Prominent national [[civil code]]s include the [[France|French]] [[Napoleonic Code|Napoleonic Code (''code civil'')]] of 1804, the [[Austria]]n civil code ([[Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch|Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]) of 1812, the [[Germany|German]] civil code (''[[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]'') of 1900 and the [[Swiss Civil Code|Swiss codes]]. The European codifications of the 1800s influenced the [[Legal history of the Catholic Church|codification]] of [[canon law (Catholic Church)|Catholic canon law]]<ref>{{cite web |author-link1=Dr. Edward N. Peters |first1=Edward N. |last1=Peters |url=http://www.canonlaw.info/masterpage1917.htm |website=CanonLaw.info |title= Master Page on the Pio-Benedictine Code of 1917 |access-date=July 15, 2014}}</ref> resulting in the [[1917 Code of Canon Law]] which was replaced by the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]] and whose Eastern counterpart is the [[Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches]].

Meanwhile, [[Africa]]n civilizations developed their own legal traditions, sometimes codifying them through consistent oral tradition, as illustrated e.g. by the [[Kouroukan Fouga]], a [[charter]] proclaimed by the [[Mali Empire]] in 1222–1236, enumerating regulations in both constitutional and civil matters, and transmitted to this day by [[griot]]s under oath.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://africamix.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/09/07/la-premiere-declaration-des-droits-de-lhomme-est-africaine/ |date=September 7, 2008 |title=La première déclaration des droits de l'Homme est africaine |website=africamix - Blog LeMonde.fr |access-date=2009-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330082104/http://africamix.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/09/07/la-premiere-declaration-des-droits-de-lhomme-est-africaine |archive-date=2009-03-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Continental civil law tradition spread around the world along with European cultural and military dominance in recent centuries. During the [[Meiji Restoration]], [[Japan]] adopted a new [[Civil Code of Japan|Civil Code]] (1898), based primarily on the French civil code and influenced by the German code. After the [[Xinhai Revolution]] of 1911 in China, the new [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] government abandoned the imperial code tradition and instead adopted a new [[civil code]] strongly influenced by the German ''[[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]'', and also influenced by the Japanese code. This new tradition has been largely maintained in the legal system of the [[People's Republic of China]] since 1949.

Meanwhile, codifications also became more common in [[common law]] systems. For example, a [[criminal code]] is found in a number of common law jurisdictions in [[Australia]] and the [[Americas]], and continues to be debated in [[England]].

In the Americas, the influence of Continental legal codes has manifest itself 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 towards codification.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} The result of such codification, however, is not always a legal code as found in civil law jurisdictions. 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 (legal system)|civil law]] systems. The legal code typically covers exhaustively the entire system of private law.

== Criminal code ==
A [[criminal code]] or [[penal code]] is a common feature in many legal systems. Codification of the criminal law allows the criminal law to be more accessible and more democratically made and amended.

== See also ==
* [[Code (cryptography)]]
* [[Genetic code]]
* [[Language]]
* [[Legal code (municipal)]]
* [[List of national legal systems]]
* [[Source code]]
* [[Visigothic Code]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

van Gulik, R.H. ''Crime and Punishment in Ancient China: The Tang Yin Pi Shih''. Orchid Press, 2007. {{ISBN|9745240915}}, {{ISBN|978-974-524-091-9}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Legal codes}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120831060912/http://web.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/ Codex Iustinianus] Site ''The Roman Law Library''
*[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ Code of Laws of the United States of America] (US Code) ''law.cornell.edu''
*[http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/c_code.html Napoleonic Code] ''napoleon-series.org''
*[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/Traductions/en-English/Legifrance-translations contemporary French law codes] ''legifrance.gouv.fr''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130527213245/http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?folder=67 Louisiana Civil Code] ''legis.state.la.us''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141003040124/http://www.cga.ct.gov/2013/pub/titles.htm Connecticut General Statutes] (2013 Ed.) ''cga.ct.gov''

{{Law}}
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[[Category:Legal codes| ]]
[[Category:Civil law (legal system)]]
[[Category:Sources of law]]