Legal codes and constitutions: who copied whom

c. 1750 BCE · Early law

Code of Hammurabi

Babylon

A collection of nearly three hundred laws carved on a stone pillar by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, covering trade, property, family and crimes.

529 to 534 · Early law

Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian's Code)

Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire

The Emperor Justinian ordered Roman law to be gathered and organised into the Code, the Digest, the Institutes and later laws.

Shaped 4 later texts

1215 · Charters, declarations and treaties

Magna Carta

England

A charter agreed by King John and his barons, promising that the king himself must obey the law and that no free man should be punished without lawful judgment.

Shaped 1 later text

1689 · Charters, declarations and treaties

English Bill of Rights

England

An Act of Parliament that limited the power of the Crown, protected free speech in Parliament and banned cruel and unusual punishments.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 2 later texts

1787 (in force 1789) · Constitutions

Constitution of the United States

United States

The first written national constitution still in force. It sets up a federal government with three branches and divides power between the nation and the states.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 3 later texts

1789 · Charters, declarations and treaties

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

France

A revolutionary statement that all people are born free and equal in rights, and that law is the expression of the general will.

Shaped 2 later texts

1791 · Charters, declarations and treaties

United States Bill of Rights

United States

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, protecting freedoms such as speech, religion and fair trial.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1804 · Civil codes

French Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)

France

One short, clear code covering persons, property and the ways property is acquired, including contracts. It replaced the patchwork of old local customs.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 10 later texts

1808 · Civil codes

Louisiana Digest of the Civil Laws

Louisiana (United States)

A civil code for the territory of Orleans, later Louisiana, drawing on French and Spanish law.

Built on 1 earlier text

1811 · Civil codes

Austrian General Civil Code (ABGB)

Austria

A civil code for the Habsburg lands, built on natural-law ideas and Roman law.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 1 later text

1844 · Civil codes

Serbian Civil Code

Serbia

Serbia's first civil code, adopted in the principality of Serbia.

Built on 1 earlier text

1855 (in force 1857) · Civil codes

Chilean Civil Code (Andrés Bello)

Chile

A civil code written largely by the jurist Andrés Bello, combining Spanish law, Roman law and the French code.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1865 · Civil codes

Italian Civil Code of 1865

Italy

The first civil code of the new kingdom of Italy, replacing the codes of the older Italian states.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 1 later text

1869 to 1876 · Civil codes

Ottoman Mecelle (Majalla)

Ottoman Empire

The first attempt to put Islamic civil and commercial law, in the Hanafi tradition, into the form of a modern code with numbered articles.

Shaped 2 later texts

1889 · Civil codes

Spanish Civil Code

Spain

Spain's national civil code, written to unify private law while keeping some regional civil laws.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 1 later text

1896 (in force 1900) · Civil codes

German Civil Code (BGB)

Germany

A precise, abstract code built on the German scholarship of Roman law. Its famous 'general part' sets out rules that apply across the whole code.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 11 later texts

1896 to 1898 · Civil codes

Japanese Civil Code

Japan

Japan's modern civil code, adopted in the Meiji period to replace unequal treaties and modernise the state.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1907 (in force 1912) · Civil codes

Swiss Civil Code (and Code of Obligations)

Switzerland

A short, clear code in plain language, written by the jurist Eugen Huber, with a separate Code of Obligations.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 3 later texts

1917 · Constitutions

Constitution of Mexico

Mexico

A constitution written after the Mexican Revolution, with strong provisions on land, labour and education.

Built on 1 earlier text

1919 · Constitutions

Weimar Constitution

Germany

Germany's first democratic constitution, with a long list of social and economic rights.

Shaped 2 later texts

1920 · Constitutions

Austrian Federal Constitution

Austria

A constitution that created one of the first specialised constitutional courts (Czechoslovakia set one up the same year), designed in Austria by the jurist Hans Kelsen.

Shaped 2 later texts

1925 to 1935 · Civil codes

Thai Civil and Commercial Code

Thailand

A single code covering civil and commercial law, drafted by Thai and foreign jurists.

Built on 4 earlier texts

1926 · Civil codes

Turkish Civil Code

Turkey

Turkey's civil code, adopted as part of the legal reforms of the new republic.

Built on 1 earlier text

1929 to 1931 · Civil codes

Civil Code of the Republic of China

China (now in force in Taiwan)

A civil code adopted by the Republic of China, drafted with the help of foreign models.

Built on 3 earlier texts

1940 (in force 1946) · Civil codes

Greek Civil Code

Greece

Greece's civil code, which replaced Byzantine law that had stayed in force until the 20th century.

Built on 1 earlier text

1942 · Civil codes

Italian Civil Code of 1942

Italy

A civil code that merged civil and commercial law into one text, replacing the code of 1865 and the separate commercial code.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1947 · Constitutions

Constitution of Japan

Japan

A post-war constitution that made the Emperor a symbol of the state, guaranteed rights and renounced war in Article 9.

Built on 1 earlier text

1948 · Charters, declarations and treaties

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations

A declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly, setting out the rights that all human beings are said to share.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1948 · Constitutions

Constitution of Italy

Italy

A post-war constitution that created a republic, a long list of rights and a Constitutional Court.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 1 later text

1948 · Civil codes

Egyptian Civil Code (Sanhuri)

Egypt

A civil code drafted by the jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri that combined a French-style structure with rules drawn from Islamic law.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 3 later texts

1949 · Constitutions

German Basic Law (Grundgesetz)

Germany

Germany's post-war constitution. It begins with the inviolability of human dignity and set up a powerful Federal Constitutional Court.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1949 (in force 1950) · Civil codes

Civil Code of the Philippines

Philippines

A civil code that replaced the Spanish code in force since 1889, adding American-influenced rules.

Built on 1 earlier text

1950 (in force 1953) · Charters, declarations and treaties

European Convention on Human Rights

Council of Europe

A treaty protecting civil and political rights, enforced by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Built on 1 earlier text · Shaped 1 later text

1949 (in force 1950) · Constitutions

Constitution of India

India

One of the world's longest constitutions, with a list of fundamental rights, directive principles and a federal structure.

Built on 1 earlier text

1951 · Civil codes

Iraqi Civil Code

Iraq

Iraq's civil code, drafted with the help of Sanhuri, who wrote Egypt's code.

Built on 1 earlier text

1966 · Civil codes

Portuguese Civil Code

Portugal

Portugal's modern civil code, replacing the code of 1867.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1976 · Civil codes

Jordanian Civil Code

Jordan

Jordan's civil code, which draws heavily on Islamic jurisprudence and on the Egyptian code.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1978 · Constitutions

Spanish Constitution

Spain

The constitution of Spain's democracy after Franco, with regional autonomy and a Constitutional Court.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1982 · Charters, declarations and treaties

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Canada

A bill of rights built into the Canadian constitution in 1982, with a clause (section 1) that allows reasonable limits on rights.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 1 later text

1985 · Civil codes

UAE Civil Transactions Law

United Arab Emirates

The federal civil law of the UAE, covering contracts, property and civil liability.

Built on 1 earlier text

1991 (in force 1994) · Civil codes

Civil Code of Québec

Quebec (Canada)

A modern civil code for Quebec, the civil-law province of Canada. It replaced the code of 1866.

Built on 1 earlier text

1992 · Civil codes

Dutch New Civil Code

Netherlands

A modern civil code, written over decades, that replaced the code of 1838. It covers property, obligations and contracts in a modern structure.

Built on 2 earlier texts · Shaped 2 later texts

1994 to 2006 · Civil codes

Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Russia

A civil code adopted in several parts after the end of the Soviet Union, setting up a market-economy private law.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1996 · Constitutions

Constitution of South Africa

South Africa

A constitution with a strong bill of rights, written after the end of apartheid, with a Constitutional Court.

Built on 2 earlier texts

1997 · Civil codes

Civil Code of Georgia

Georgia

A civil code written after independence from the Soviet Union.

Built on 1 earlier text

2000 (in force 2001) · Civil codes

Civil Code of Lithuania

Lithuania

A new civil code written after Lithuania regained independence.

Built on 1 earlier text

2002 · Civil codes

Brazilian Civil Code

Brazil

A new civil code that replaced the 1916 code and merged civil and commercial law.

Built on 2 earlier texts

2016 · Civil codes

French contract-law reform

France

A major reform of the contract and obligations sections of the French Civil Code, renumbering articles and modernising its rules after two centuries.

Built on 1 earlier text