3. All the words in each of the following lines are synonymous except one. Consult a dictionary to find the odd ones.

1. to reform – to refine – to improve – to adopt;

2. complete – partial – comprehensive – thorough;

3. to set up – to modernize – to form – to establish;

4. to switch on – to incorporate – to include – to embrace;

5. attempt – effort – action – try;

6. ordinary – peculiar – unique – distinctive

4. Fill in the gaps choosing from the box

2,281 articles; was adopted; acquisition of property; feudal laws;

legal reforms; civil code; English common law; rank or previous privileges

The Napoleonic Code divided law into law of persons, property, (1) 3, civil procedure (removed into a separate code in 1806). Some of its original (2) 1 were drafted by Napoleon himself, and all were affected by his thinking. The code was a triumphant attempt to create a legal system that treated all citizens as equals without regard to their (3) 8.

The code (4) 2 intact in most of the areas of Europe that Napoleon dominated and spread from there across the Atlantic, taking root particularly in French-speaking American communities. It was very influential on developing countries outside of Europe, especially in the Middle East, that were attempting to modernize their countries through (5) 5.

However, the legal systems of the United Kingdom other than Scotland, as well as Ireland and the Commonwealth, are derived from (6) 7 rather than from Roman roots.

In the United States, whose legal system is largely based on English common law, the state of Louisiana is unique in having a strong influence from Napoleonic Code and Spanish legal traditions on its (7) 6.

The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in replacing the previous patchwork of (8) 4. The Code is often regarded as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.

Napoleon's law

5.1. Pre-reading task. Scan the text “Napoleon's Law” to provide the English equivalents of the following:

1. усовершенствовать и привести в порядок правовую систему;

2. казаться запутанным и противоречивым;

3. единый свод законов;

4. хартии, дарованные (предоставленные) королями;

5. кодекс, принятый в общеевропейском масштабе;

6. полная (всесторонняя) переработка;

7. рациональная структура;

8. приобретение собственности;

9. гражданский процесс;

10. независимо от положения (звания) и привилегий;

11. понятно написанный кодекс;

12. некодифицированная система

The laws of much of the continental Europe (particularly France), of Quebec in Canada, and of much of Latin America – along with the civil laws of the state of Louisiana (the USA) – owe their modern form largely to the work of a man who never even studied law. Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican soldier who became emperor of France after the French Revolution, established in 1800 five commissions to refine and organise the diverse legal systems of France. The result, enacted in 1804, was the Napoleon's Code.

Napoleon set to reform the French legal system in accordance with the ideas of the French Revolution, because the old feudal and royal laws seemed confusing and contradictory to the people. Before the Code, France did not have a single set of laws; law consisted mainly of local customs, which had sometimes been officially compiled in "customals". There were also exemptions, privileges, and special charters granted by the kings or other feudal lords. During the Revolution, the last signs of feudalism were abolished.

The Napoleonic Code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil legal system. It was, however, the first modern legal code to be adopted with a pan-European scope, and it strongly influenced the law of many of the countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars.

The categories of the Napoleonic Code were not drawn from earlier French laws, but instead from Justinian's sixth-century codification of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis. The Napoleonic Code, however, differed from Justinian's in important ways: it incorporated all kinds of earlier rules, not only legislation; it was not a collection of edited extracts, but a comprehensive rewrite; its structure was much more rational; it had no religious content; and it was written in the native language.

The Napoleonic Code divided law into law of persons, property, acquisition of property, civil procedure (removed into a separate code in 1806). Some of its original 2,281 articles were drafted by Napoleon himself, and all were affected by his thinking, even though he was completely self-taught in legal matters. The code was a triumphant attempt to create a legal system that treated all citizens as equals without regard to their rank or previous privileges. It was also so clearly written that it could be read and understood by ordinary people.

The code was adopted intact in most of the areas of Europe that Napoleon dominated and spread from there across the Atlantic, taking root particularly in French-speaking American communities. It was very influential on developing countries outside of Europe, especially in the Middle East, that were attempting to modernize their countries through legal reforms.

However, the legal systems of the United Kingdom other than Scotland, as well as Ireland and the Commonwealth, are derived from English common law rather than from Roman roots. Scots law, though also a civil law system, is uncodified; it was strongly influenced by Roman-Dutch legal thought, and after the Act of Union 1707, by English law.

In the United States, whose legal system is largely based on English common law, the state of Louisiana is unique in having a strong influence from Napoleonic Code and Spanish legal traditions on its civil code.

The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major step in replacing the previous patchwork of feudal laws. Many of its principles are still in force today. The Code is often regarded as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.