Sociology

The French Civil Code was the administrative hallmark of an administrative genius, enacted in 1804 it was not till 1807 that it started being called the Napoleonic Code or code de Napoleone. Its origins lie in the decrepit legal system of the times. In France, there were many variations of the legal system. The laws were either different or applied differently in the various parts of the country. The nobles enjoyed privileges over the Third Estate, which constituted the main victims of the arbitrary judicial system. This created a multitude of administrative difficulties along with injustice for the common man. A commission of four people was set up by Napoleon for the purposes of codifying the existing legal system and establishing with a greater degree of firmness the new dynamics of the revolution. The feudal system was abolished, the church was backtracked and freedom of religion was guaranteed. The code had many economic implications which meant that trade flourished the easy accessibility of the code and simplicity ensured universal enforcement and justice compared to the older times. It focused on the family life and micro management of the everyday affairs of the people to set a dynamic which would be most conducive to peace and solidarity. The code was based on a set of principles the legislative incorporation of those principles would prove to be the legacy of napoleon.

The codification of these laws was the first of its kind. They answered a lot of questions for the French people where the law was arbitrary from locality to locality. By facilitating access to the law, it answers the democratic and economic needs of the masses. Before the Revolution in France the masses were really in desperate conditions, human rights were a privilege of the nobles and officials. The civil code provided for a universal law which was applicable to each and every citizen of France irrespective of their status in society. The courts could now refer to a code while enforcing justice and thus the arbitrary nature of the previous courts vanished.

The code napoleon is considered a step backwards for women rights. In all its innovative ingenuity, it dictated the supremacy of the male as the head of the family. Although women lived in miserable conditions under previous legal systems, in retrospect, the changes that the code brought about in the rights for women are considered to be detrimental to their overall standing in society. The answers it had for the questions of their standing in society are significant in their myopic patriarchy. This chauvinism was then perpetuated in the many countries that adopted the civil code and is still perpetuated today in the world.

The wife was made subservient to the husband in all public matters. She could not buy or sell property, or engage in commercial activity by herself. Her life was inextricably bound to the life of her husband. She was given the right to divorce, in case of adultery or irreconcilable differences. The married woman was to oblige the husband, whose nationality she was to share. Women could not be witnesses in court or individually or file a lawsuit.

The individual status of men however was uplifted. In the case of divorce because of adultery, a man could not be accused of adultery unless it was committed within the vicinities of the household. It made him the head of the family and morally responsible for its well being. While women were responsible for the rearing of the family and devoting their time and faithfulness to their husbands and children, this fertilization of virtue and subordinate vision has been the thorn in the side for women right advocates everywhere. It implies an imposition rather then the freedom to choose their responsibilities and way of life (Horgan, 42).

They were economically bound to men by the property law of the code. The control of her property was in the hands of her husband. Women could not work without the consent of their husbands, who would receive their wages and any profit she made in business would not be hers to keep. In the inheritance laws, she had no right to inheritance and her descendents would receive her property only if they were tied to those of her husband.  

Napoleon is said to have a famous saying Women ought to obey us. Nature has made them our slaves. Furthermore the influence of Jean Jacques Rousseau in formulating the code ensured that his take on the subject filtered out in the code. Rousseau was of the opinion that women were subordinate to men in the intellectual and physical hierarchy of existence. In explanations of the code, emphasis was placed on the chivalry of men and their biological superiority as necessitating the patriarchal nature of the code. Men have always been perceived of being the bread earners, smart and responsible sex. Even in other socio-political systems of the world, womens rights have rarely ever been treated impartially. The perceived necessity of their protection has always resulted in their sidetracking and subservience to their male counterparts. The code marked the coming of a new age for the French people, but this was only true in the case of the male population. It was not till 150 years later that women received the right to work without the consent of their husbands, even later did they get the right to vote (Council of Europe 32).

This trend of thought is not just limited to France. Just by extensions the code was adopted in varying degrees of conformity in Italy, Belgium, Spain, Egypt, and a host of other countries. The code is the basis of the Civil Law in the world today. The rights of women seem to be decided upon by men. They are afforded little faith and freedom, or have been throughout history. As the world witnesses a change in dynamic, we see women working and taking on leading roles in economics and academia their legislative rights are equal to those of men in the developed world. But tradition has kept them locked in the attic of this deep set belief that men were created to rule over them and they were created to oblige (Smith 120).

Conclusion
The code napoleon was not the embodiment of the ideals of the revolution, women rights were not uplifted in society. Its effects reverberated throughout Europe and all those parts of the world where Napoleon lead his campaigns. The code de napoleon has undergone certain changes since the 19th century. Justice is one of the fundamental human rights, and in the patriarchal system of France at that time it weighed in for the fairer and often maltreated sex. There are many countries in the world today where women do not enjoy basic human rights owing to this traditional view of women in society and cultures. 1804 is definitely a long time ago, but as a legacy of the revolution which was supposed to deliver the people from the injustice of the 19th century, it falls quite short of the mark. Therein lies the significance of the code de napoleon for human rights, as long as men write the laws, the standard of equal rights is a mere veneer of a deeply engraved universal mindset.