Code Napoleon revises French law

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The “Code Napoleon” is one of the enduring achievements of Napoleonic rule. It began as a clarification of the effects of the Revolution, and was adopted in France in 1804, but it was then used to administer countries dominated by France during the period of the Napoleonic wars. Its inherent rationality and modernism were such that even after the Napoleonic tide had gone out, its influences remained. It is still formally the basis of law in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and has a determining influence on law in the European Union. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it was to provide a basic model for national law in nascent Latin American states.

The basic provisions of the law rest on the systematic rationality of a legal system set out in unambiguous terms and decided

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Code Napoleon revises French law". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4372, accessed 28 March 2024.]

4372 Code Napoleon revises French law 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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