The Penal Code of 1810 was a code of criminal laws created under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, replacing the

French Penal Code of 1791 The French Penal Code of 1791 was a penal code adopted during the French Revolution by the Constituent Assembly, between 25 September and 6 October 1791. It was France's first penal code, and was influenced by the Enlightenment thinking of Monte ...

. Among other things, this code reinstated a

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

punishment, as well as

branding Branding may refer to: Physical markings * Making a mark, typically by charring: ** Wood branding, permanently marking, by way of heat, typically of wood (also applied to plastic, cork, leather, etc.) ** Livestock branding, the marking of animals ...

. These had been abolished in the

. Issued on June 3, 1810, it stayed in use until March 1, 1994 when it was replaced by the

Code pénal In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

. This code served as a basis for criminal laws in many of the countries occupied at the time by the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

. It was the fifth code promulgated by the Empire, and is not to be confused with the Code Napoleon, which was promulgated in 1804.

History

The initial move towards a new, cohesive French civil code was made in July 1800, when

First Consul The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

appointed a four-man commission composed of Portalis, Tronchet, Bigot de Preamneneu, and Malleville to draft a project. Before the Napoleonic Code, France did not have a single set of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

s; law consisted mainly of local customs, which had sometimes been officially compiled in "custumals" (''

coutume Old French law, referred to in French as ''l'Ancien Droit'', was the law of the Kingdom of France until the French Revolution. In the north of France were the ''Pays de coutumes'' ('customary countries'), where customary laws were in force, whi ...

s''), notably the '' Custom of Paris''. There were also exemptions, privileges, and special charters granted by the kings or other feudal lords. During the Revolution, the last vestiges of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

were abolished. Penal law in particular had been a source of great controversy during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, which had promulgated the

Penal Code of 1791 The French Penal Code of 1791 was a penal code adopted during the French Revolution by the Constituent Assembly, between 25 September and 6 October 1791. It was France's first penal code, and was influenced by the Enlightenment thinking of Monte ...

and numerous

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

s. The new Penal Code was to replace various laws adopted during the first ten years of the Revolution, the backbone of which was the

and the Code of Offences and Penalties of 1795. An important feature of these two texts, which came after centuries of relentless severity, was to have fixed penalties to keep the role of judge strictly distributive, therefore eliminating the dangers of arbitrary sentencing. With the 1810 Penal Code, however, the sentences were given a set range, letting the judges decide more freely on the severity of the punishment. Like the 1791 Penal Code, the 1810 Penal Code did not include religious crimes crimes such as

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''s ...

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...

, thereby legalising them by omission. However,

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

was made illegal, and it was harder for wives than husbands to file for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

. The 1810 Penal Code was revised twice in its life: once very importantly in 1832, the second, much more limited, in 1863. In 1974, the project for a new penal code began, but was not completed until 1994.

Presentation

The 1810 Penal Code was divided into four books, with the third split into two parts: # Correctional sentences and their effects # Persons punishable, excusable or responsible for crimes or misdemeanors # Crimes, misdemeanors and their punishments ## crimes against public property ## crimes and offenses against individuals # Police contraventions and penalties.

Crimes and Punishments

Unlike the 1791 Penal Code, which only tackled the most serious crimes, with lesser crimes being codified in the Code of Offences and Penalties, the 1810 Penal Code grouped together all crimes. Violations were punished by fine and, at most, five days in prison. Misdemeanors were punished by up to five years in prison and

fines Fines may refer to: * Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality * Fine (penalty) * Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term *Fines, ore or other products with a s ...

. Penalties for felonies were to be either ' (afflictives and infaming) or merely '' (infaming)'', meaning the convicted lost some civil rights, such as the right to vote and to possess arms.

Felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

were to be punished by

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, hard labor for life or a term from five to twenty years or by reclusion from five to ten years. Forfeiture of estate, lifelong

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples su ...

for a term between five and ten years were available for crimes against the state (which included

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, esta ...

and

insurrection Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

, and were severely punished, up to death with forfeiture of the convict's estate, or

Aggravated murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

, this is to say, premeditated, committed during the commission of a crime or against legitimate ascendants were to be punished by death, along with

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

by torture, death threats or under the guise of a civil servants. In addition, non-political felons could undergo supervision by the police. The death sentence had to be carried out by

beheading Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

via the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

In popular culture

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's 1862 novel '' Les Miserables'', main character

Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...

is sentenced under the 1810 Penal Code to a sentence of hard labour for theft.

References

External links

* * {{French criminal law, state=collapsed 1810 in law Criminal codes French criminal law Legal history of France First French Empire