The Code of Hammurabi & Codified Law

By Cahli Musselman

What is the rule of law and why was it created?

The rule of law is a justice system that was created by the people in power, this ensured that everyone had equal rights and were viewed the same. The rule of law was created because in the older days, kings could tell their subjects one thing, and act upon another. The rule of law ensured that even the person in power or government followed the rules. For example, in today’s society, if the Prime Minister were to do something illegal, he would still get sentenced or fined even though he is the one in power.

How did Hammurabi think people should be treated? Why?Why did Hammurabi feel that it would help society to codify the law?Hammurabi believed in the justice system as a more in depth “eye

for an eye” system. Hammurabi had 281 laws (not including 13) that had detailed punishments of what would happen if you broke laws. These laws were written on clay, stele, or anywhere that could be seen by people. Some examples of his laws are:•If anyone steals the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.•If a man takes a woman to wife, but has no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.•If a man strikes a pregnant woman, thereby causing her to miscarry and die, the assailant's daughter shall be put to death.•If a man puts out the eye of an equal, his eye shall be put out.•If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.•If anyone strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_hammurabi)Hammurabi believed that he was chosen by the gods to deliver his law to the people. He stated “"Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land."

Trial By Ordeal and Trial by DuelWhat were the shortcomings of these systems? Why were they considered appropriate within their contexts?

Trial By OrdealTrial by ordeal was a justice system believing that when you go to a trial, you do tasks that would determine whether or not you were guilty or innocent. For example, In Medieval Europe the person that broke the law had to hold a hot-iron, if the wound healed they were innocent, if it didn’t they were considered guilty. The tasks they had to perform could be, and usually were, fatal. These were considered appropriate because there were no specific justice systems.

Trial by DuelTrial by duel was used to settle cases that had no witnesses or confessions. One person from each party that was arguing against each other would fight against each other in a single combat. The winner of the battle would be the person that was right in the dispute. This gradually ended in the 16th century. People figured that this was acceptable in their society because there had to be someone that was right and someone that was wrong. With no confessions and no witnesses, they thought a battle was the only way that people could settle their differences.

Collage

“Fairness and consistency are not necessarily complimentary terms, precedent is valuable in ensuring consistency, whether it be consistently fair or otherwise.”

To me, this means that even though a law or rule is consistent, it doesn’t always make it right or just in a society. For example; The death penalty. In some governments it is the law that if you kill someone, you get the death penalty. This doesn’t necessarily make it fair, but it is consistent.