French Civil Code of 1804

(Napoleonic Code), an existing codification of civil law in France that has decisively influenced the development of civil law in a number of bourgeois countries. Engels called it the classic law code of bourgeois society. Compiled with the direct participation of Napoleon, the code includes civil, family, procedural, and some labor rules of law.

Abolishing feudal privileges, the Code guarantees the freedom of private ownership, declaring this to be a sacred and inviolable right. The code clearly departs from the principle of formal equality by, for example, stipulating the formal inequality of master and worker. Women are not given equal rights in family and property relations, and their formal legal capactiy and transactional capacity are severely limited. Drawn up in accordance with the institute system (seeINSTITUTES), the code has been amended many times since its adoption.