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Origins Of Law

Origins Of Law. Hammurabi’s Code. Who Was Hammurabi?. Told people that he was chosen by the gods to win wars Took over control of Sumer (modern day Iraq) He divided the empire and appointed a governor for each area Created a common legal system Had each city / region submit their laws

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Origins Of Law

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  1. Origins Of Law

  2. Hammurabi’s Code

  3. Who Was Hammurabi? • Told people that he was chosen by the gods to win wars • Took over control of Sumer (modern day Iraq) • He divided the empire and appointed a governor for each area • Created a common legal system • Had each city / region submit their laws • From them he selected 300 that would be applied to the whole empire

  4. The Code • The Code of Hammurabi was the first codified set of laws. • Tried to cover all aspects of life • Prices, wages, contracts, marriage, property, assault, trade, respect for the elderly, family hierarchies • The laws were based on the idea of retribution • “eye for an eye” • Death penalty was common

  5. Mosaic Law

  6. Was based on the 10 Commandments • Was written approximately 500 years after Hammurabi’s Code • Just as with Hammurabi’s Code, Mosaic Law does not allow for unintentional harm. • It assumed that all actions were deliberate • It did not offer different punishments for the wealthy. Was uniformly applied to all of society. • Did not cover economic exchanges or transactions to the extent as did Hammurabi’s Code.

  7. The Greeks

  8. Citizen and the State • The city states of Greece were the first to develop democratic systems of governance. • Compared to their neighbors, the system they developed was extraordinary. • Was the first in the Western world to originate from humans instead of divine inspiration

  9. All males of a certain age were required to participate in government and justice. • Had to vote for members to lead them • Had to serve as Jurors in criminal cases • Could suggest a punishment as well • Every year 6,000 citizens were selected to serve as a pool of jurors. • Compared to our system, it may not be seen as democratic as Greeks did not afford citizenship to slaves or women. It was a start nonetheless.

  10. Roman Law

  11. As early as 450 BCE the Romans codified their laws in the for of the Twelve Tablets. • Established • Public Prosecution of crime – not as individuals • Victim Compensation • Universality – laws were applied to all citizens, rich or poor • They believed that all citizens should be able to read / know the laws. • The Romans were the first to see the law as a “living” thing. Laws could be added or deleted if necessary. • They were the first to accept that the idea un-intinentional causes for transgressions. • A man was being shaved on the sidewalk outside a barber shop. A boy kicked ball that struck the barber’s arm cutting the man. • Under Hammurabi’s Code this would mean death to the boy. • Under Roman Law it was seen as accidental and thus open to compensation to the vicitm’s family.

  12. The Romans were also the first to use advocates to stand in for the accused. • They were people who studied the laws and understood them. • The Twelve Tablets developed a complex system of compensation for victims and so it as increasingly important to have someone there at the trial who knew the laws. • The first lawyers were born. • Reflecting the society of the time, Roman Law remained very Patriarchal • The law gave more power to men and heads of families and restricted those of women.

  13. Justinian’s Code

  14. Too Much to Handle • By 529 CE, the Twelve Tablets had grown into a set of 1600 laws that were unevenly applied throughout the Western half of the Roman Empire • The Emperor of the time, Justinian decreed that 10 men would review all the laws and reduce them to a simplified set of codes. • The new laws were referred to as Justinian’s Code would then be printed and distributed throughout the empire so that crimes committed would be treated with consistently throughout the Empire.

  15. Napoleonic Code Vive la Revolution!

  16. By the late 1700s France had a mish – mash of laws, most of which were feudal in their origins. • After the French Revolution in 1783, the French Republic and subsequently the Emperor Napoleon sought to modernize French Law. • In 1804 the Napoleonic Code or French Civil Code was adopted. • For the next ten years it was exported where ever the French army took over. • It was popular because it was written in clear terms that most people could understand. • After the defeat of Napoleon, many countries adopted new legal codes based on French model.

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