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The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest records of written law. King Hammurabi of Babylon had nearly 300 laws carved in columns of stone and placed around his territory in Babylon. Example of a case: A man takes out another mans eye so for his punishment he shall have his eye taken out (an eye for an eye). Impact today: Hammurabi's code started the idea of written laws. After what he did, other kings started to adopt his idea which eventually led to what we have today. -
Justinian's Code was a collection of four books of laws. Justinian was the Eastern Roman emperor in the Constantinople (capital of Roman/Byzantine Empire) and he created a ten-man commission to create these books. Example of a case: If a child is born with a deformity he shall be killed. If a father sells his son into slavery three times, the son shall be free of his father. Our children, begotten in lawful marriage, are in our power. -
What was the impact on our current legal system?
The Justinian Code and Its Influence Laws make up the foundation of modern society, by clearly stating what is and isn't allowed and provide a set of the punishments that coincide with the crime that was committed. -
Common law is the system of law that was created through the decisions of the English royal courts of Justice since the Norman Conquest in 1066. Since then it has just been built on by courts dealing with cases so that people could look back on those cases and use them as references for current or future cases. Some common laws for marriage:
Members of the couple live together for an extended period of time both members have the legal right to marry
Neither of them is married to another person. -
Common Law's effect on our current legal system: Common law is still used today in our Canadian Legal System. Our judges will look back on previous cases that are similar to cases that they are dealing with at the moment and give similar sentences. -
The Iroquois Great Law of Peace was a constitution that established a democracy between five Iroquois-speaking tribes—the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, and Mohawk. The original five member nations created this constitution near modern-day Victor, New York. The point of the Great Law of Peace was to unite these five tribes together so they could all have peace. -
Example of the law surrounding foreign nations: Whenever a foreign nation enters the Confederacy or accepts the Great Peace, the Five Nations and the foreign nation shall enter into an agreement and compact by which the foreign nation shall endeavor to persuade other nations to accept the Great Peace. -
Impact on our current legal system: The Great Law of Peace provided federalism, separation of powers, equitable distribution of wealth, accountability of elected officials, freedom of assembly, speech, and religion, and a system of natural rights. -
The Magna Carta is a royal charter of rights that was agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor on June 15, 1215. This document was the foundation for English Common law which spread throughout the English speaking land. The Magna Carta also created the Rule of Law in England which limits the power that the king has by making him have to follow the laws and not be above them all. -
A legal principal that the Magna Carta made was habeas corpus which is where the "innocent until proven guilty" came from and guarantees a trial by jury for people accused of crime. The Magna Carta has impacted our current legal system through the rule of law that it created and we still use parts of today. It was a big step in the direction of the current legal system that we have today. -
The Napoleonic Code is a new legal framework that French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte made with a special commission led by J.J. Cambaceres in France and was then enacted in March 1804. It codified several branches of law, including commercial law, criminal law and divided civil law into categories of property and family. He made men equal and deprived women of and individual rights. He also reintroduced slavery. All of these laws were applied to all territories under Napoleon's control.
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The Napoleonic Code in some way was a step back in our legal system because it took away more of women's right and brought back slavery.
