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1792 BCE
Hammurabi's Code
Hammurabi's Code was established by King Hammurabi, the king of Babylon. This was the first known written code of law. Now that laws were written out in public for everyone to see people were aware of the laws, and they were more likely to follow them. For example, law twenty two says " if a man has committed highway robbery and has been caught, that man shall be put to death". This shows us how important the laws were, and how severe the punishments were. -
1792 BCE
Hammurabi's Code
At this point in time hierarchy was very important. Men with property were seen as the most important, while women and children were the less important, and the least important was slaves. For example, one law was that "if a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand", this shows the hierarchy between individuals. -
527
Justinian code
Emperor Justinian ruled the Byzantine Empire. Justinian emphasized equality between men with property and men without. Although the equality wasn't between all individuals it was the start. There were four main parts to his code. 1) This part was all the laws from previous emperors. 2) This is the current emperors opinion on the previous laws. 3) Part 3 describes how to use the laws. 4) These are all of the new laws. -
800
Feudalism
King William was one of many kings during the time of feudalism, but was the one to start it. Feudalism was very popular in Europe from the 9th to 15th century. Hierarchy was still very important during this time, the highest class was the king, then nobles, after that knights, and then peasants. The king owned all of the land, but he divided it among the nobles, and then they divided it to the peasants. The peasants then worked and farmed this land fro protection from the army. -
800
Feudalism
From feudalism came judges because the king would appoint many judges throughout the land to solve cases. common law also came from this, instead of every judge providing a different punishment, common law would make it so that each law would have a punishment that wouldn't differ between cases. -
1215
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was made by King John in 1215 in Runnymede. The Magna Carta expressed how no one, not even the king was above the law. This was known as "rule of law". He also implemented Habeas Corpus. This stated how everyone had the right to be told why they were being arrested, and to have a trial in a timely fashion. The king was seen as God's spokesperson before Habeas Corpus, so he was thought to be able to do anything. He was able to throw people into the dungeon with no reason. -
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
While Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada he introduced the Charter. This document states and describes the rights and freedoms each Canadian citizen has. The Charter includes fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights, equality rights, and the official languages of Canada. This is the most modern, politically correct Canadian document. -
Period: to
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
For example these are the fundamental freedoms: " Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association. While the Bill of Rights was a legislation that could easily be changed, the Charter is not one and can not be changed as easily.
