Code Napoleon: The French Civil Code

Today I read a very interesting document, the Code Napoleon. After the anarchy and chaos of the French Revolution, there needed to be a new system of law. After all, before the revolution the only law that there was came out of the king's mouth. In 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte had taken control, and he ordered a panel of judges to create a new set of laws, laws that applied to the highest noble as well as the lowest peasant. The final product was the Code Napoleon, an extensive set of 2,281 laws arranged in three books. These three books covered the topics of People, Property, and Means of Acquiring Property, similar to the Code of Justinian. The code has several laws that bear a resemblance to the Bill of Rights and other American documents. Interestingly enough however, one of the Code's statutes strictly states that judges are to base their rulings on the written law alone, not on previous court cases and their rulings. This stands in contrast to our government system today, where precedent cases abound. In this particular matter, I would think that, as long as the laws themselves are good and clear in what they say, a no-precedent system would be an excellent idea. The laws themselves(or at least what I read of them), are somewhat strict, but overall seem a good start for a government. However, soon enough Napoleon would be singing a different tune...