CODIFICATION
The collection and systematic arrangement, usually
by subject, of the laws of a state or country, or
the statutory provisions, rules, and regulations
that govern a specific area or subject of law or
practice.
The term codification denotes the creation of
codes, which are compilations of written
statutes, rules, and regulations that inform the
public of acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
U.S. law is often described as a COMMON
LAW system of JURISPRUDENCE. This means that
it relies on previous cases, or precedents, to
determine procedures and to decide the outcome
of cases. U.S. jurisprudence also involves
the interpretation of written laws, including
constitutions, regulations, ordinances.
Codification rearranges and displaces prior
statutes and case decisions. Codification of an
area of law generally constitutes the whole source
that is relied upon for a legal question in that
area. Thus, when a state codifies its criminal laws,
the statutes contained within the new code
supersede the laws that had been in place prior to
the codification. There are exceptions to this general
rule, however. For example, the Michigan
Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that Dr. JACK
KEVORKIAN could be prosecuted under Michigan
common law for assisting patient with suicide,
despite the absence in Michigan’s criminal code
of a statute that prohibits such action law (People
v. Kevorkian, 447 Mich. 436, 527 N.W.2d 714).
Public demand for written laws can be
traced to the dawn of recorded history. The first
known codification of laws is attributed to UrNammu, king of Ur, in the twenty-fifth century
B.C. Lipit-Ishtar, king of Isin, in ancient Sumer,
promulgated a written code around 2210 B.C.
Hammurabi, a monarch in Babylonia, codified
laws in the eighteenth century B.C. Both Lipit-
Ishtar and Hammurabi announced in the prologues
of their respective codes that these
compilations established justice.
Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations continued
the practice of codification. However,
their written codes were not always helpful. The
Roman emperor Caligula wrote his laws in small
characters and hung them high on pillars in
order to ensnare the public. Julius Caesar
attempted codification, but he was unable to
reduce the enormous body of ROMAN LAW to its
essentials.
Not until the sixth century A.D. did Rome,
under emperor JUSTINIAN I, accomplish a complete
codification of its laws. The Code of Justinian,
known as the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of
Civil Laws), became the legal authority of Rome
in 533–34 A.D. Justinian’s code completely revised
imperial laws; omitted obsolete, contradictory,
and repetitive laws; and contained a digest of
legal essays for guidance. The Corpus Juris Civilis
was a landmark in LEGAL HISTORY, and it served
as the basis for modern CIVIL LAW systems.
Civil law systems—based on comprehensive
codes—were installed in such countries as Germany,
France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan,
and Spain. Common law systems—based on
case precedents—developed in England, South
Africa, and Australia. Jurisprudence in colonial
America was based on the English common law
system.
At first, all American colonies enacted laws,
but none of these statutes purported to be a
comprehensive codification of court procedures
or of substantive areas of law (such as CRIMINAL
LAW, real and personal PROPERTY LAW, or ADMIRALTY
LAW). Early codification efforts were limited
in scope to basic concepts and general
criminal prohibitions. In 1611, Virginia became
the first colony to adopt and print a body of
laws. Massachusetts wrote the Liberties of the
Massachusetts Colony of New England in 1641,
and then the Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts
in 1648. The Massachusetts codes identified
simple rules of conduct based on biblical principles.
Connecticut published its first code in
1650. Idolatry, blasphemy, and witchcraft were
identified as capital offenses in its Book of General
Laws. In 1665, Long Island and Westchester,
New York, adopted a set of laws relating to the
rights of persons and property, and to civil and
criminal procedures. Aside from these and similar
laws, jurisprudence in colonial America was
guided by precedent.
The civil law system and the common law
system were driven by diverging philosophies.
Proponents of comprehensive codification and
the civil law system saw the benefits of public
notice. By using simple language to inform the
citizenry, the state could allow people more freedom
to conduct their affairs without fear of the
unexpected. Codifiers contended that it was
more democratic to live by rules that had been
enacted by elected legislators, rather than
judges, and that the common law system was too
vast and obtuse for the lay public.
Supporters of the common law system resisted
codification. They noted that rules that were
culled from reported case decisions and written
in digests notified the public of behavior standards,
and argued that it was impossible to distill
legal nuances into authoritative rules.
Common law advocates maintained that a simple
rule could not be written to apply to all of
the situations that it might cover. They further
argued that precedents, carefully developed over
the centuries, were fairer than rules reflecting
moods of the moment.
The debate over codification raged in the
1800s. The democratic revolutions in France
and the United States inspired codifiers, who
emphasized that codification by legislators
would reflect the will of the people more than
would law as determined by judges. In 1804,
France enacted the Code Civil, a set of rules that
were designed to regulate the organization of
courts, civil court procedures, remedies, and the
execution of judgments. The Code Civil,
renamed the Code Napoléon during Napoléon’s
reign as emperor, was supplemented shortly
after 1804 to contain five codes relating to CIVIL
PROCEDURE, commerce, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE,
criminal laws, and the regulation of SLAVERY in
French colonies.
In the United States, the Code Napoléon
inspired French-influenced Louisiana to enact a
similar comprehensive code in 1824. A codification
movement was also sparked in the northern
states. In 1848, DAVID DUDLEY FIELD (1805–94)
convinced the New York Legislature to enact the
Code of Civil Procedure, which replaced a complicated
common law system of PLEADING and
installed a simpler, more rational system.
The U.S. Congress passed the U.S. Code in
1926. Before the enactment of this code, federal
laws were contained in the Revised
Statutes and the subsequent Statutes at Large.
The new U.S. Code synthesized and rearranged
those statutes, divided them into 50 titles, and
compiled them all in four volumes. In 1932, a
new edition of the U.S. Code was published.
Now, a new edition of the U.S. Code is promulgated
every six years, with a cumulative supplement
printed for each title in every
intervening year.
Procedural rules have been codified as well.
The resulting codes include the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure, and the FEDERAL RULES OF EVIDENCE.
Most states have codified their procedural
rules based on these federal codes.
The American Law Institute (ALI), a group
of legal scholars, has been responsible for the
most recent codification movement in the
United States. The ALI has written RESTATEMENTS
OF LAW for such areas as contracts,
TORTS, and conflict of laws. The restatements do
not have the force of law, but they are used by
states as models for codification, and courts
refer to them in judicial decisions. The ALI also
drafts codes such as the MODEL PENAL CODE in
an effort to help standardize and make consistent
the application of law throughout the
United States. The ALI also works with the
National Conference of Commissioners to promote
uniform laws. The most notable of these
efforts is the UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE, a
collection of laws relating to commercial transactions
such as sales and leasing of goods, transfer
of funds, COMMERCIAL PAPER, bank deposits
and collections, letters of credit, investment
SECURITIES, and SECURED TRANSACTIONS. The
Uniform Commercial Code has been adopted in
whole or in part by all of the states.
Administrative agencies follow their own
procedural and substantive codes. The CODE OF
FEDERAL REGULATIONS contains the general
body of regulatory laws governing practice and
procedure in federal administrative agencies.
This code is divided into 50 titles and is revised
annually. All states have codified regulations for
their own administrative agencies.
Yet another compilation of statutes, rules,
and regulations is the UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY
JUSTICE, which covers the substantive and
procedural law governing the armed forces of
the United States.
FURTHER READINGS
Clarke, R. Floyd. 1982. The Science of Law and Lawmaking:
Being an Introduction to Law, a General View of Its Forms
and Substance, and a Discussion of the Question of Codification.
New York: Macmillan, 1898. Reprint, Littleton,
Colo.: Rothman.
Palmer,Vernon V. 1988. “The Death of a Code—The Birth of
a Digest.” Tulane Law Review 60, no.2 (December).
Rosen,Mark D. 1994. “What Has Happened to the Common
Law? Recent American Codifications, and Their Impact
on Judicial Practice and the Law’s Subsequent Development.”
Wisconsin Law Review.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Code Pleading; Napoleonic Code; U.S. Code.
