The Penal Code of 1810 () was a code of criminal law created under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

which replaced the Penal Code of 1791. Among other things, this code reinstated a

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

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 French Penal Code of 1791. Issued on June 3, 1810, it stayed in use until March 1, 1994 when it was replaced by the

French criminal code The French criminal code () is the codification of French criminal law (). It took effect March 1, 1994 and replaced the French Penal Code of 1810, which had until then been in effect. This in turn has become known as the "old penal code" in t ...

. 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 or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

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

History

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

First Consul The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the French Empire on 18 May 1804. During this period, Napoleon Bonap ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

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

coutume Old French law, referred to in French as , 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, while in the south wer ...

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 a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

were abolished. Penal law in particular had been a source of great controversy during the French Revolution, which had promulgated the Penal Code of 1791 and numerous

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

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 Penal Code of 1791 and the

Code of Offences and Penalties The Code of Offences and Penalties ( French: ''Code des délits et des peines'') was a criminal code adopted in revolutionary France by the National Convention on 25 October 1795 (the 3rd of Brumaire of the year IV under the French Republican C ...

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 such as

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

, thereby legalising them by omission. However,

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

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 reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. 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 Lease#Leases_of_land, premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term * Fines, ore or oth ...

. Penalties for felonies were to be either ' (punishing and degrading; see

glossary A glossary (from , ''glossa''; language, speech, wording), also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gloss ...

) or merely (degrading), 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 ...

were to be punished by

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, 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 Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

or banishment 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 (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

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

and

insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, 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 committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

, this is to say,

premeditated Malice aforethought is the "premeditation" or "predetermination" (with malice) required as an element of some crimes in some jurisdictions and a unique element for first-degree or aggravated murder in a few. Insofar as the term is still in use, ...

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

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

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 via the

guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...

In popular culture

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

'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