CODE NAPOLEON. Properly, the entire body of French law as contained in the so-called Five Codes promulgated between 1804 and 1810. In general usage. however. the term is restricted to the first of these, the code of civil or private law enacted in 1804 and still in force. The re lation of this code to the general development of European law is indicated in Civil. LAW, His tory, VIII. At the outbreak of the Revolution (1789) there was great diversity in the laws by which different parts of France were governed, and the establishment of a general or national code was one of the reforms urgently demanded. Such a code was promised in the Constitution of 1791, and the Convention caused a code to be draughted in 1793: but this draught was rejected because it contained "no new and grand ideas, suitable to the regenerated France." It was not until the revolutionary storm had spent its force and Napoleon, as First Consul, had established a strong government that the work could be pushed through. In 1800, the task was intrusded to a commission consisting of the most eminent jurists in France, chief among them being Bigot-Preameneu, Slallet ille, Portalis, and Tronchet. These men completed their work in four months. After the proposed code had been approved by the principal courts of justice, it was discussed in the Council of State, where Na poleon displayed great interegA in the work and made many shrewd suggestions, and it was then submitted, title by title, to the legislative body. Here it encountered opposition, because it was considered too conservative: and it was not passed until the legislature had been reformed into docility. The entire code was promulgated _March 21, 1SO4, as Code civil des Francais. In 1S07 the title was changed to Code Napoleon. The.,e two designations have since prevailed al ternately. according to the form of government. After the completion of the civil code, other codes were adopted. dealing with civil procedure, penal law. criminal p•oeedure. and commerce.
The Code Napoleon introduced little new law. It was a eompromise between the customary law of the northern provinces. which was tially German, and the law of eastern and south ern Frame, Which was mainly lloman. It con sists of three 'books.' The first deals with per sons, including family relations. The second deals with rights in things, but does not include the law of pledge and mortgage. The third, en titled "Various modes of acquiring ownership," includes succession, by testament and ab intes tato; matrimonial property NW: the law of liens and mortgages; and the rules regarding proscrip tion.
The great merits of the code are simplicity (sometimes secured by superficiality) and clear ness of statement. In spite of these merits, the code has aroused the usual amount of contro versies, some of which are still unsettled, and has required no little judicial interpretation. To contemporary jurists it seemed fairly complete; but experience has revealed many 'open places' which have been filled, in part by judicial deci sions and in part by supplementary legislation. There has been also considerable legislative amendment.
The Code Napoleon, as a result of French con quests. was introduced before 1814 into many parts of central and southern Europe. In most instances independent national codes have since been substituted; but the Code Napoleon is still in force in Belgium. in Holland, in several Swiss cantons, and in Italy the' newer codes are largely based upon the French. The same is true of the code of Louisiana, of most of the Central American and South ,kmeriean codes, and of the Spanish Code of 1889. The Code Napo is contained in Roger and Sorel, Codes et lois usuelle's (15th ed. Paris, 1853). There are commentaries by Slarcade and Pont, Explication theo•ique et pratique du code ciril (Paris, 1874 94) : Mourlon, leepOitions (Wilts sal' le ('ode A'apoleon (12th ed. Paris, 1SS5).