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Concept
Codification (law)
Summary
In law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code, i.e. a codex (book) of law.
Codification is one of the defining features of civil law jurisdictions. In common law systems, such as that of English law, codification is the process of converting and consolidating judge-made law or uncodified statutes enacted by the legislature into statute law.
Ancient Sumer's Code of Ur-Nammu was compiled circa 2050–1230 BC, and is the earliest known surviving civil code. Three centuries later, the Babylonian king Hammurabi enacted the set of laws named after him.
Important codifications were developed in the ancient Roman Empire, with the compilations of the Lex Duodecim Tabularum and much later the Corpus Juris Civilis. These codified laws were the exceptions rather than the rule, however, as during much of ancient times Roman laws were left mostly uncodified.
The first permanent system of codified laws could be found in imperial China , with the compilation of the Tang Code in AD 624. This formed the basis of the Chinese criminal code, which was eventually replaced by the Great Qing Legal Code, which was in turn abolished in 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China. The new laws of the Republic of China were inspired by the German codified work, the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch. A very influential example in Europe was the French Napoleonic code of 1804.
Upon confederation, the Haudenosaunee created constitutional wampum, each component symbolizing one of the many laws within the 117 articles. The union of the five original nations occurred in 1142 C.E., the unification narrative of which serves the basis for the Iroquois laws.
Systems of religious laws include the halakha of Judaism and the sharia of Islam. The use of civil codes in sharia began with the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century AD.
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law jurisdictions rely, by definition, on codification.
Official source
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