126 HARVARD LAW REVIEW "I first thought that it would be possible to reduce laws to simple geometrical demonstrations, so that whoever could read and tie two ideas together would be capable of pronouncing on them; but I almost im- mediately convinced myself that this was an absurd idea." Completion From the Council the draft went successively to the Tribunate and the National Legislature, in each of which it encountered opposition. But the First Consul was midaunted and resourceful. He devised a plan that met all difficulties, and on March 21, 1804, the prajet was approved by the legislature and promulgated.^ And so out of all this effort and discussion came the Code Na- poleon,^^ as the instrument was to be known — the earliest prac- tical realization of a dream five centuries old in France. But it was only the first fruits of the codification movement. The Code of Civil Procedure followed in 1806, the Code of Commerce in 1807, the Code of Criminal Procedure {Instruction Criminelle) in 1808, and finally the Code Penal in 1810. Brissaud *^ says of them: "These four Codes are very inferior to the Civil Code. Of the two Criminal Codes, one is as faulty as the other. Our criminal trial system, much out of date, is open to many criticisms; and there is some question of recasting it from top to bottom. Pending this vast undertaking, it has already been amended in important respects. The system of penal- ties established under the Empire was far too severe and inflexible, and has been improved on several occasions, especially in 1832 and 1863. The Code of Civil Procedure also calls for numerous reforms; the prac- tice is too costly, the delays are too long, the forms are out of date; only the lawyers are satisfied with it. As to the Commercial Code, it was en- tirely inadequate. On most points the legislators had limited themselves to a reproduction of the Ordinance of 1673 (on commerce) and that of 1681 (on maritime commerce). Only its provisions upon bankruptcy
- • ViOLLET, mSTOIRE DU DROIT CTVIL FRANfAIS, 2 cd., 236.
- ^ This title does not appear until 1807. "The Charters of 1814 and 1830 restored
its original name. A Decree of March 27, 1852, reestablished the title of 'Code Napol6on,' 'in order to defer to the historic truth,' said the framer of the Decree. However, since the year 1870, universal usage (following that of the government) terms it merely 'Code civil.' Today the term 'Code Napol6on' is more suitably used to designate the original form of the Code, in contrast with its existing form, which is appreciably different." i Continental Legal History Seioes, 285. « Id., 292-93.
