JAPANESE CIVIL CODE 375 



II. Objects of the Codification 



I think it may be laid down as a general rule regarding the evolu- 

 tion of law, that a comprehensive legislation generally follows a great 

 social revolution. If laws are social phenomena, it is quite natural 

 that social changes should always bring with them corresponding 

 changes in the laws of the country. The legal history of all nations, 

 either ancient or modern, shows that the objects sought to be ob- 

 tained by codification fall under one of the following four heads, 

 namely, pacification, innovation, unification, and simplification. 



(1) Sometimes codification takes place after a great social dis- 

 turbance in order to restore peace and maintain order by means 

 of comprehensive legislation. This was true of the ancient codes 

 of Draco and Solon in Greece, the Law of Twelve Tables in 

 Rome, and the codifications in China since the Han Dynasty, 

 where it was customary for the founder of every dynasty to 

 publish a new code of laws after he had gained the imperial 

 power by force of arms. In Japan the codes of the Hojo and 

 the Tokugawa belong to this class. 



(2) Laws are often codified either to bring about a social reform, or to 

 adjust the law to the requirements of the new state of things which 

 has been brought about by social reform. To this class belong 

 most of the codes which have been promulgated in Japan since 

 the Restoration of 1868. 



(3) Very often codification takes place with a view to the unification 

 of different local laws and customs, so that the country may be 

 governed by a uniform code of laws. One of the objects of the 

 Code Napoleon, the Italian Civil Code of 1865, and the new- 

 German Imperial Codes was, in each case, the unification of the 

 laws of the country. It was the principal object of the first 

 Japanese Criminal Code of 1870, which was published soon after 

 the Restoration, to establish unity in criminal law throughout 

 the empire, by abolishing the particular laws which existed 

 within the jurisdictions of the daimios. 



(4) Simplification of law by means of logical arrangement or con- 

 solidation of legal rules constitutes the most usual motive for 

 codification in modern states. 



Now the majority of codifications, except sometimes those com- 

 ing under the fourth class just mentioned, take place after great 

 political or social revolutions, in consequence of which pacification, 

 innovation, unification, or simplification becomes necessary. The 

 history of codification in Japan amply exemplifies the above state- 

 ment. The promulgation of the Taiho Code of 702 A. D. was the 

 result of the great political and social revolution, which followed 



