Laws were written down
Written Laws
• Between 1280-880 BCE in India: The Great Laws
of Manu. Compiled laws that had been passed
down from generation to generation by oral
tradition.
• 350 BCE in China: The Code of Li’Kvei
• 1792-1750 BCE from Mesopotamia (now Iraq):
Hammurabi’s code
The Code of Hammurabi
In 1901, archaeologists
found in Susa, Iran, the
codified laws of
Hammurabi written on
a stone tablet.
Hammurabi had been the
king of Babylon (a city in
what is now Irag).
(Remember the hanging
gardens of Babylon from
Grade 10 Social Studies?)
Hammurabi had claimed
that these laws were
“from the gods”, thereby
ensuring that people
obeyed them.
Hammurabi’s Code
• Almost 300 different laws
• Patriarchal
• Hierarchal
Hammurabi’s law were based on:
- Retribution (getting even: an eye-for-an-eye)
Sometimes another person was the one
punished (slave, daughter)
And
- Restitution (paying back the victim)
Mosaic Law
• Sometimes called biblical law.
• This was the law that is said to have been given to
Moses by God on Mount Sanai and which the
Hebrew people were to follow.
• The first 10 of these laws appear as
the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament of
the Christian bible
and
All of them are in the Torah, the religious book of
Judaism
Mosaic Law
• Considered the intent of the perpetrator
• Punished the guilty party him or herself, not a
substitute
• Introduced caring for others (leave a portion
of crops in the field for those who needed
them)
Citizens had rights and obligations
They were expected to vote and had to sit on
juries.
Greek Law
Democracy is born --- but only for “citizens”.
Women, children, slaves, aliens (those not
born in Greece) were not eligible to be
citizens.
• The jury system can be traced to Athens,
Greece
• About 400 BCE
• Juries were made up of 101, 501 or 1001
citizens
Greek trials
• Women who were charged with a crime were
not allowed to speak on their own behalf.
• If a person were found guilty, both the accuser
and accused would suggest a sentence.
Roman Law
Roman laws were codified (set out in an orderly
written arrangement that could be revised as
new laws were needed).
Two basic principles of Roman law:
• Justice cannot be left to judges alone
• Law must be recorded
Like previous codes, Roman law reflected a
patriarchal society.
• “Sons shall be under the jurisdiction (legal
authority) of the father.”
• Women were not mentioned because they
were not “persons”. They were property.
The Twelve Tables
The Twelve Tables
• The Twelve Tables were written on wood and
bronze in 450 BCE.
• They formed the basis of Roman Law during
the occupation of Britain.
• Compiled by a committee of ten men.
Examples from the Twelve Tables
• If someone is called to go to court, he is to
go. If he doesn’t go, a witness should be
called. Only then should he be captured.
• If he shirks or flees, he should be captured.
If illness or old age is an impediment, let him
be given a carriage. If he doesn’t want it, it
should not be covered.
• Only a landowner should be surety for
another landowner. But any citizen can be
surety for a proletarian.
Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/94583_15-significant-lawcodes-that-help-shaped-history#ixzz100oaYkiY
The Tables promoted:
• Public prosecution of crime
• A system of victim compensation
• Protected the lower class from abuse by the
ruling class
By 100 BCE, the Romans had a complex and
sophisticated society with many laws covering
many areas (criminal, contract, tort).
The average person, when faced with a charge
or dispute, could not possibly know all he had
to know. Legal advisers were hired. These
were the forerunners of present-day lawyers.
(Remember in Athens when non-citizens had
to get someone to speak for them at trial?)
Justinian’s Code
• The clarification and organization of Roman
Law commissioned by the Emperor Justinian I
which was completed in 529 BCE.
• Justinian’s Code forms the basis of civil law
(the law governing personal relationships) in
most of the western world.
France and the Napoleonic Code
• The Napoleonic Code, also known as the
French Civil Code, unified French law.
• It went into effect in 1804 and spread
throughout Europe as Napoleon brought
other countries under his domination.
Napoleonic Code:
• Was written in plain language and easy to
understand so people liked it.
• Regulated:
- property
- wills
- contracts
- family law
The law of Quebec, other than those laws
which are federal, is based on the Napoleonic
Code.
British Law
Although Mosaic, Greek, Roman and French
law have all influenced law in Canada, British
law has been the most influential.
Early British Law
When the Romans left Britain, in 410 CE, the
British turned to God to determine guilt or
innocence. How did God do this? (pp 28 & 29)
In three different ways:
1. Trial by Ordeal (various examples)
2. Trial by Oath Helping
3. Trial by Combat
Trial by ordeal (examples)
Trial by Ordeal
Examples:
Trial by hot iron
Trial by hot water
Trial by cold water
Trial by cake (seriously!)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4UeVL4S
KoQ
Trial by Ordeal
• Only used if sentence was the death penalty
• Consisted of “torture”
• God would save the accused if s/he was
innocent.
Trial by oath helping
• used for a less serious charge
• required people who knew the
accused to swear an oath on the
Bible that he was innocent
• if they did, the accused was freed
Why did it work then?
Trial by combat
Trial by combat-The
accused and
accuser fought,
sometimes by a
duel.
God would help
the innocent one
.
Trial by Combat cont’d
With trial by combat, a knight or another “more
able” person would fight on behalf of the
accused or accuser.
• Our adversarial system is based on “trial by
combat”
• Adversaries battle it out, now using brains
instead of brawn
• Even then, weaker but richer people hired
others to do battle for them
The feudal system and William the
Conqueror
Divine Right --- The belief that monarchs got
their power from God. They were, therefore,
above the law and had to answer only to God.
• In 1066, William the Conqueror, the Duke of
Normandy, invaded England.
• He set up a system of land ownership called
the feudal system.
• He divided England into parcels of land.
• He gave each parcel to a nobleman who
owned everything on that parcel --- land,
animals, peasants who farmed it.
• The nobleman returned the favour by giving
the king crops, the use of knights, and money.
• The nobleman controlled the administration
of law on his parcel of land.
• This resulted in big discrepancies in “justice”.
Some noblemen were cruel and unjust; others
kind and reasonable.
• By the mid 1100s, the people were fed up.
• King Henry II, William’s grandson, tried to
bring some consistency and fairness to the
law.
• He appointed judges to travel around, hearing
cases and administering the law.
• There was no code so the judges had to rely
on their common sense.
• Eventually, the judges agreed that similar
cases should receive similar sentences and
they began to record the facts of their cases
and the results so that it would be easier for
them all to follow the precedent (the
example).
Common law or Case Law
• These written cases became known as the
common law (common to all).
• Stare decisis --- meaning to ‘stand by the
decision’ (to follow the example of decisions
already made).
• This following of stare decisis developed into
what is know today as the rule of precedent.
• King Henry II also
started the 12-member
jury (Then it was elderly
men)
Magna Carta
• With judges travelling
and “making law”,
people in England
began to think that
maybe monarchs did
not rule by divine right,
that maybe monarchs
too should be subject to
the law.
The Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was the first written charter
of rights. It was signed by King John, son of
Henry II, in 1215 and it:
• recognized the rule of law
• introduced habeas corpus (which means that
an arrested person has the right to go before
the court so that a judge can determine if the
arrest is valid).
Aboriginal Law
• Oral tradition
• Based on belief in a creator and on a strong
sense of family and leadership
• Established forms of government, religion,
social structure and legal system
Aboriginal Law (continued)
• Around 1450, five First Nations came together
to form the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)
Confederacy.
• In 1720, one more nation joined the
Confederacy and it became commonly known
as the Six Nations.
Six Nations
Power extended
from what is now
Quebec in the east
and Illinois in the
west and south.
The Great Binding Law of the Iroquois
Confederacy
• The Great Binding Law outlined the rights,
duties and responsibilities of the people.
• Included laws on adoption, emigration,
treason, and secession.
Homework
Pages 35 Questions 2, 3, 4