From a modern Perspective, what were the strenghths and weaknesses of the Napoleonic Code?

Question

Hi,

I also need this for History class.

Thankyou, and please make sure your information is accurate.

Thanks once again =)

Answer 1

It depends on whether you are an Anglophile or a Francophile.

There are two traditions in law. The Anglophile tradition is that of common law; codes, whatever they may contain, are of secondary importance compared to court decisions. In fact, in an Anglophile legal system, a single court decision may strike down large parts of a code, because the code may just happen to be incompatible with the previously existing body of law. So from the Anglophile point of view, the most important weakness of the Napoleonic Code is that it failed to recognize the primacy of common law.

In a Francophile system, the code is of primary importance. If the code gets changed, the previous case history becomes irrelevant, since cases are decided based on the newest version of the code. So the Francophile legal scholars point out that the Napoleonic Code replaced a variety of previous codes that were both archaic and arcane.