Formal Legal Code List
A viewset for viewing and editing Formal Legal Codes.
GET /api/sc/formal-legal-codes/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 509, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/formal-legal-codes/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/formal-legal-codes/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " This appears to be based on the Shariah. “Though the taxation system was regularized by the Caliphate from being extortionist and overburdening as it used to be by sanctioning only those taxes which were legislated by the Shariah, the mode of assessment, collection and administration also became flawed as time went by.” §REF§Okene, Ahmed Adam, and Shukri B. Ahmad. “Ibn Khaldun, Cyclical Theory and the Rise and Fall of Sokoto Caliphate, Nigeria West Africa.” International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 2, no. 4, 2011, pp. 80–91: 88. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/H7J2NC37/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Some form of Sharia law seems to have been in place. “It is also necessary to understand precisely what we mean when we say that Borno has become an Islamic State as from the very date its precursor State of Kanem came to be converted to Islam in large scale, and on an on-going and increasing basis, indeed, up to the time of its termination by imperialist forces at the beginning of the twentieth century. First, the Islamic State differs from the secular State of western social science notion from both the point of view of its orientation as well also as the source of its authority and the role of responsibilities of its leaders and its citizens, vis-a-vis the modern secular nation state. Law in the Islamic State is not the product of human decision and action. Goals are not indeterminate and open-ended. The laws are revealed in the Book of Allah, the Qur'an and the Sunna (the practices and sayings of the 229 Prophet) and the goals are already pre-determined and set. All Muslims are equal before this law; and the ruler and the ruled are adjudged equally in all respects of their personal life and conduct, before their Creator, on the day of judgement. Thus, while the ruler can be adjudged and punished for lapses in his conduct of his office as well as of his life, private as well as public, the ruled is equally adjudged and punished in respect of his personal conduct, civil or criminal. Indeed, however, Muslim state craft so much recognized the power of the ruler over the ruled and in determining criminality and infraction that, whatever the fate of polity, it is the ruler and not the ruled that is blamed, as he carries vicarious responsibility. Imam Ahmad ibn Fartua, the chief Imam and chronicler of Mai Idris Alauma of Borno (1570 A.D.-1616 A.D.) meant exactly that, when he said: ... Every age has its great men, and extols each of them according to his faith and works. The crown of leadership is purity in justice ... ... Thus every people relies on imitation of its leaders. The leader goes before and the people follow him ... Most excellent is the fame of just deeds, and justice on the part of a king for one day is equal to service of God for sixty years ... ... A place where there is an evil Sultan is better than a place which has none.” §REF§Tijani, K. (1993). THE MUNE IN PRE-COLONIAL BORNO. Berichte Des Sonderforschungsbereichs, 268(2), 227–254: 228-229. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2VQBX7DW/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 680, "name": "se_futa_toro_imamate", "long_name": "Imamate of Futa Toro", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1860 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Sharia law. “The tokolor revolution resulted in the replacement of one elite by another, and in the creation of a society within which the Sharia, the Muslim law, was enforced.” §REF§ (Klein 1972, 429) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 681, "name": "se_great_fulo_emp", "long_name": "Denyanke Kingdom", "start_year": 1490, "end_year": 1776 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Sharia law. The following quote suggests that Sharia law was present in the Empire of Great Fulo. “In Mauritania and Senegambia, there was a network of rural schools, at which the Koran and certain important works of technology and law were studied. The more learned marabouts studied at different schools. Some of these schools seem to have played an important revolutionary role. Thus, according to Futa Toro traditions, all the major leaders of the 1776 torodbe revolt studied at Pir Saniokhor in Cayor.” §REF§ (Klein 1972, 428) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"As there existed no codified law, no formal tribunals, no structure for appealing judicial decisions, no separation between civil and criminal law, no distinction between a judicial session and a general audience, the king and the queen mother settled disputes according to their own wishes. When they felt they had been slighted or wronged, they summoned the culprits and sentenced them without further ado.\"§REF§(Vansina 2004: 89-90) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 697, "name": "in_pandya_emp_2", "long_name": "Pandya Dynasty", "start_year": 590, "end_year": 915 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.” §REF§ (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 698, "name": "in_cholas_1", "long_name": "Early Cholas", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.” §REF§ (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 702, "name": "in_pallava_emp_2", "long_name": "Late Pallava Empire", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 890 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Dharmasutras. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.” §REF§ (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection §REF§ “Danti Varman succeed his father in 796 A.D. In the Bahur copper plate inscription, Danti Varman is praised for restoring law and order and for promoting Dharma.” §REF§ (Kamlesh 2010, 566) Kamelsh, Kapur. 2010. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In History of Ancient India: Portraits of a Nation. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UETBPIDE/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 703, "name": "in_kalabhra_dyn", "long_name": "Kalabhra Dynasty", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 600 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Dharmasutras. The following quote refers the Dharmasutras which deals with certain social and legal codes for the Brahmin community thus, it does not pertain to Buddhist or Jain religions. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.” §REF§ (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 637, "name": "so_adal_sultanate", "long_name": "Adal Sultanate", "start_year": 1375, "end_year": 1543 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.” §REF§ (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 638, "name": "so_tunni_sultanate", "long_name": "Tunni Sultanate", "start_year": 800, "end_year": 1200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " As a Muslim sultanate, Islamic law and Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.” §REF§ (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/S4S75T39/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 644, "name": "et_harla_k", "long_name": "Harla Kingdom", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " As partly Islamic polity it is highly likely that Sharia Law would be present. “In contrast, Harlaa was at least partially Islamised and its inhabitants participated in long distance trade in the 12th -13th centuries.” §REF§ (Insoll 2017, 208) Insoll, Timothy. 2017. ‘First Footsteps in Archaeology of Harar, Ethiopia’. Journal of Islamic Archaeology. Vol 4:2. Pp 189-215. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/VQ38B374/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 646, "name": "so_ifat_sultanate", "long_name": "Ifat Sultanate", "start_year": 1280, "end_year": 1375 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " As a Muslim sultanate, Sharia courts would have likely been used to regulate society. “Since law can only be the pre-ordained system of God’s commands of Sharī’a, jurisprudence is the science of fiqh, or ‘understanding’ and ascertaining that; and the classical legal theory consists of the formulation and analysis of the principles by which such comprehension is to be achieved. Four such basic principles, which represent distinct but correlated manifestations of God’s will and which are known as the ‘roots of jurisprudence’ (usūl al-fiqh), are recognized by the classical theory: the word of God himself in the Qur’ān, the divinely inspired conduct or sunna of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy or qiyās and consensus of opinion or ijmā.” §REF§ (Coulson 1964, 75-76) Coulson, Noel. 1964. A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Coulson/titleCreatorYear/items/S4S75T39/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Oyo Mesi is the Oyo Empire term for the broader Yoruba role of Igbimo: “The authority of the chiefs of state and the Igbimo extended to the performance of judicial functions. Their authority in this realm straddled the dimension of Directiveness and the exaction of compliance to judgments that they handed down in capital cases from members of the society. In this capacity, they constituted the Supreme Court in the central polity with the sole authority to try capital cases and other ‘indictable offences such as murder, treason, burglary, arson, unlawful wounding, manslaughter, incest … ’ (Fadipe, 1970: 209), as well as disputes between occupants of authority positions and appeals that emanated from lower judicial bodies in the constituent polities. The authority to grant pardons of all types belonged to the chiefs of state in its entirety. They and members of the Igbimo handled regular cases in regular sessions of the Igbimo during the course of the week while special sessions were convened when the occasion called for them (Fadipe, 1970). The fact that executions and jail terms were exacted in the capital by designated institutions in the state bureaucracy (Bascom, 1955; Fadipe, 1970; Akintoye, 1971) indicated the presence of some measure of regulated regimentation in the Yoruba authority patterns (Ejiogu, 2004).” §REF§Ejiogu, EC. ‘State Building in the Niger Basin in the Common Era and Beyond, 1000–Mid 1800s: The Case of Yorubaland’. Journal of Asian and African Studies vol.46, no.6 (1 December 2011): 600. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H2CJNHP/collection§REF§ There were at least legal systems/precedents and clear rules for escalation, if not formal codes. “A further aspect of metropolitan interference in the local administration of the provincial towns was that in judicial matters their rulers were subordinated to the Alafin. Johnson observes: 'The [local] King's civil officers judge all minor cases, but all important matters are transferred to the Alafin of Oyo, whose decision and laws were as unalterable as those of the ancient Medes and Persians.' Judicial reference to the Alafin meant in practice judgement by the Ona lwefa, the palace eunuch who regularly deputized for the Alafin in judicial matters. The precise categories of cases which had to bebrought before the Ona lwefa are unclear. Disputes between provincial rulers were naturally judged at the capital. It is also generally agreed that disputes which could not be settled by the local ruler and his chiefs, or in which the disputants were not satisfied with their decision, might be taken to be judged at Oyo.” §REF§Law, R. (1977). The Oyo Empire c. 1600 – c. 1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Oxford University Press: 103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB32ZPCF/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "long_name": "Whydah", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “In local thought, the king's primary function was the exercise of judicial authority and the maintenance of judicial order. This idea was given symbolic expression in the interval between the death of one king and the installation of his successor, when crimes could be committed with impunity, as one European observer explained, ‘as tho' the death of the king put an end to all manner of reason and justice.’” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 205. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “A similar ambiguity of perception can be seen in European accounts of the administration of justice in Whydah. Although the king was clearly regarded as the supreme judicial authority in the kingdom (and in particular seems to have enjoyed the sole right to inflict capital punishment), he normally exercised his judicial functions in serious cases with the advice of a council of leading chiefs. But whereas one account asserts that he could only condemn offenders to death \"on the advice of his great men,\" another claims that he was not obliged to follow the council's advice but could act \"according to his royal will and pleasure.\" This contradiction, as suggested earlier, may reflect dis- agreements about the legitimate extent of the royal prerogative within the Whydah ruling elite itself.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 208. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “What is clear is that those chiefs who served as governors of subordinate villages of the kingdom enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy in their local administration: as was noted in the 1690s, ‘these in the King's absence and in their Vice-royalties, command as arbitrarily and keep up as great state as the King himself.' The governors exercised an independent local judicial authority in minor cases, acted as spokesmen before the king on behalf of those under their government, and transmitted their tribute to him.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 208–209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “The second letter of the third section of the 1688 Description comprises an extended description of the kingdom of \"Juda\" or Whydah (133-38). Barbot describes the natural resources of the country, the conduct of the European trade there, the local king and his court, the local religion (especially the veneration of snakes), the administration of justice (including a form of trial by ordeal, the accused being obliged to swim across a crocodile-infested river), burial customs (including human sacrifice), the ceremony of the blood pact, agriculture and crafts, weaponry, the local currency (of cowry shells), domestic slavery and polygamy, and much else besides.”§REF§Law, Robin. “Jean Barbot as a Source for the Slave Coast of West Africa.” History in Africa, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 155–73: 159. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4D6NU7J/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 665, "name": "ni_aro", "long_name": "Aro", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1902 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There are no mentions of a formal or written code, but many references to the Ibini Ukpabi oracle playing a key judicial role. Any disputes which couldn’t be resolved locally might be sent on to the oracle. So there were clearly social rules in place, but they may have differed throughout the confederacy in form and application. “Ibini Ukpabi played a highly accepted governmental role until corruption came into it like any other human system. The organization of the oracle reflected the organization of Igbo and indeed that of Aro Kingdom. Eze Aro was represented in all of Igbo land including Idoma whose king Ochidoma actually come from the original name given by Eze Aro himself as Onyenachi Idoma; Onitsha whose first Obi was installed by Eze Aro; Ihiala where Eze Aro sent ogwugwu –a branch of Ibini Ukpabi, etc. These representatives were consulted on every matter by their people until the matter became heavy enough to reach Aro land. The Eze Aro himself referred cases to Eze Ibom isii when Ibini Ukpabi was needed to intervene. Eze Ibom isii called the Ibini Ukpabi chief priest who tried such cases too until they were found fit for the ‘supreme God’ to get involved. That was – a point of no return. This means that the Ibini Ukpabi chief priest only took over when the Eze Ibom isii could no longer handle any such cases. Let us note that in the Igbo traditional setting, the oracle held executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The knowledge here is being elucidated by the known practice of having Aro villages in the Igbo hinterland till date.” §REF§ Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection§REF§ “Violations of the sacred laws of Ala were seen as taboos and were regarded as the most serious offense that an individual could commit in Igbo society (Am, Alu). The taboos covered a wide spectrum of crimes ranging from incest to stealing farm crops. C. K. Meek's study offers an insightful analysis of the centrality of Ala in the Igbo system of jurisprudence: \"Ala is the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning, stealing, adultery [...] and all offenses against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala deprives evil men of their lives, and her priests are the guardian of public morality. Laws are made in her name, and by her, oaths are sworn. Ala is in fact, the unseen president of the community\" (Meek 1937:25)” §REF§Oriji, J. N. (2009). Transformations in Igbo Cosmology during Slavery: A Study of the Geneses of Place-Names, Totems & Taboos. Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 49(196), 953–967: 954. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KEADDRZW/collection§REF§ “Let us note that in the Igbo traditional setting, the oracle held executive, legislative, and judicial powers.” §REF§Innocent, Rev. (2020). A Critical Study on the Ibini Ukpabi (Arochukwu Long Juju) Oracle and its Implications on the International Relations During the 20th Century. London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 20(10): 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZXZGZSM3/collection§REF§ “Equally, a justice system was controlled by the Aro. Before the formation of the chiefdom, an oracle of very local significance, Ibini-Ukpabi, was controlled by the Ibibio. It has been pointed out that during the Aro strife, Nachi, the itinerant Edda priest-doctor whom the Igbo invited to make war medicine against the Ibibio, initiated and \"developed it from a comparatively local oracle to the widespread power which it attained\" (Mathews 1927a: 9). Shortly, Ibini-Ukpabi drew a large population towards Arochukwu from far and wide. The oracle became famous; it was believed, \"because of the precision with which it detected crimes, deciphered the unfamiliar and forecast the unknown\" (Dike and Ekejiuba 1978: 273). […] In an acephalous system, justice within each village group appears to have been administered as fairly and satisfactorily as in any chiefdom system. However, the weakness of the acephalous mode of government was in dealing with intervillage relationships and disputes. Where land was plentiful, village groups might expand without clashing with one another. But as population density grew, inter- village and -town disputes were certain to increase, and there was clearly no established mechanism to deal with them. Such disputes were more in- tense in matters of land, property, inheritance, and persistent warfare. \"Sometimes the only recourse that could be agreed upon was to consult an out- side agency, the Aro or another oracle\" (Ottenberg 1958: 303). […] Impartial justice was becoming a ser- vice for which the society demonstrated a need. It had become a scarce commodity which the Aro monopolized.” §REF§Nwauwa, A. O. (1995). The Evolution of the Aro Confederacy in Southeastern Nigeria, 1690–1720. A Theoretical Synthesis of State Formation Process in Africa. Anthropos, 90(4/6), 353–364: 359. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/G4DWA3GQ/collection §REF§ “He noted that the Aro indigenous system was founded on a \"clan\" basis whereby matters of importance were deliberated on by a special body fully representative of the whole chiefdom while allowing each town the power to regulate purely domestic affairs. […] Shankland concentrated only on the precolonial administrative and judicial systems of the Aro”. §REF§Nwauwa, A. O. (1992). On Aro Colonial Primary Source Material: A Critique of the Historiography. History in Africa, 19, 377–385: 383. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/DINGJJC2/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 667, "name": "ni_igala_k", "long_name": "Igala", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “In Idah, the capital of the Igala kingdom as well as in the districts, disputes among individuals and groups were settled before family heads. Those between one family group and another were settled by heads of both group and family who sought to reach compromise for the purpose of peace and stability. In the districts, the district rulers referred to as the Onu exercised both judicial and executive powers; the village chiefs popularly called Omadachi and Gago handled divorce cases, land disputes and several other minor cases but cases of murder and treason were reserved exclusively for Attah’s attention. Attah’s court (Ogbede) was the highest court located in front of Ede market which day’s cases were heard publicly. Attah was the president of the court but because of many engagements, such power was delegated to one of the senior eunuchs called Ogbe who acted as president of the court. Ogbe acted as president of the court took final decisions on minor and non complicated cases while serious ones would be referred to the Attah for final decisions. Available records reveal that Ochalla Angna and Olimamu Attah both Islamic clerics served as court scribes (what is today known as court clerks) and records of proceedings were written and kept in Arabic. This system was and is very effective as few cases are expected to be reported to the police. Acrimony and bitterness which could arise from cases reported to the police were reduced to the barest minimum.” §REF§Jacob, Audu. “Pre-Colonial Political Administration in the North Central Nigeria: a Study of the Igala Political Kingdom.” European Scientific Journal, vol. 10, no. 19, 2014, pp. 392–402: 399. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5AN8R7UW/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The paramouncy of Ala in Igbo cosmology, and the dominant role she played in defining the moral codes of governance and political order have been noted by Uchendu, P. A. Talbot, G.H. Jones and many others. C. K Meek was then right when he stated that: Ala was the fountain of human morality, and in consequence, a principal legal sanction. Homicide, kidnapping, poisoning and stealing, adultery and all offenses against Ala must be purged by rites to her. Ala [deprives] evil men of their lives, and her priests [are] the guardians of public morality. Laws [are] made in her name and by her oaths [are] sworn. Ala [is] in fact the unseen president of the community. Ala served other legal functions. As an example, boundaries of lineage and village lands were demarcated with mounds or perennial trees representing her, and it was a taboo for anyone to destroy them. It is noteworthy that laws of Ala were not confined to only humans. They encompassed the lower animals that thrive on earth.” §REF§Oriji, J. (2007). The End of Sacred Authority and the Genesis of Amorality and Disorder in Igbo Mini States. Dialectical Anthropology, 31(1/3), 263–288: 270. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/46MVQP3M/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 669, "name": "ni_hausa_k", "long_name": "Hausa bakwai", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1808 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “In the 1450s, the Fulani came to Hausaland from Mali, bringing 'books on divinity and etymology' (formerly only books on law and the traditions had been known); the end of the century witnessed the arrival of a number of rif (descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) and the vigorous Muslim cleric, al-Maghîlï.” §REF§Niane, D. T., & Unesco (Eds.). (1984). Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Heinemann; University of California Press: 272. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ERZKPETN/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The king, as we have seen, was supreme judge, with power of life and death over his subjects. There was, however, a well organized hierarchy of courts. Village chiefs dealt only with civil disputes. Criminal cases were adjudicated by the provincial governor or the king’s councillors. At village level there was a court of first instance only; sanctions were limited to fines and short periods of imprisonment. Village chiefs supervised trials by ordeal.The provincial chief had wider powers. He could inflict the bastinado or impose lengthy periods of imprisonment. In all cases, however, the death penalty was the king’s prerogative.” §REF§Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 89. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 672, "name": "ni_benin_emp", "long_name": "Benin Empire", "start_year": 1140, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " At least in the core of the Benin Empire: “In independent Benin Kingdom, for example, there were well thought-out rules in that meant the most salient criteria of modern law. Although it was unwritten, the body of law in Benin Kingdom was well known by the people as its principles were expressed in proverbs, fables and other forms of documentation and it 'was latent in the breasts of the court remembrances and engraved in the mind of the leadership classes who could say the position of the law at any instance. Omoniyi Adewoye points out that the fact that some laws were not written does not make them 'less real than the written codes of continental Europe’.” §REF§Ojo, I. O. (2020). The Nature of Laws and Law Making in Precolonial Benin. Polac Historical Review (PHR), 4(1), 89–103: 90. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PEIZ5U3P/collection§REF§“Egharevba asserts that the laws in Benin had fixed punishment for various crimes. Perjury, larceny, receiving stolen property, manslaughter, burglary and false accusation were punishable by heavy fine or imprisonment, while the more serious offences such as murder, rape, sorcery, witchcraft, spying, malicious administering of medicines, the practising of quack remedies and treason were punishable by execution, banishment or sometimes only imprisonment. Conspiracy to steal, murder, or to undermine the law of the land was considered a serious offence, and the culprit would be punished by flogging, binding, heavy fine or long term of imprisonment. These rules governing the Onotueyevbo's relations with the districts and other evidence of the availability of sound laws in Benin kingdom in addition to these penal codes clearly showed that there were laws in pre-colonial Benin kingdom.” §REF§Ojo, I. O. (2020). The Nature of Laws and Law Making in Precolonial Benin. Polac Historical Review (PHR), 4(1), 89–103: 99. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PEIZ5U3P/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 673, "name": "ni_wukari_fed", "long_name": "Wukari Federation", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Specific rites were practiced in case or certain crimes being committed, and there was an established hierarchy of what cases went before the Aku. “[T]he Aku-Uka, in a way did not directly and physically take part in the administration of the community in pre-colonial era. In this regard, he was surrounded by a council, which C.K Meek described as a patrician caste, and they were responsible for the day to day administration. At the head of the caste, was the Abo-Acio whose position and functions could be likened to a modern day Prime minister. The Abo-Acio was the // “channel of communication between the Aku-Uka and the people. The people had to get to the Aku-Uka through the Abo-Acio. That is to say that he was the representative of the people in their relations with the king, who was the representative of the gods. He was the king’s principal adviser, and had access to the king at any time. He reported matters of importance to the king on daily basis. He disposed of all judicial cases which did not require the king’s personal investigation.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 125–126. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§ “Taking cognizance of the theocratic system of the administration, the priests constituted another important group of administrators within the Jukun political system. The Ku-Puje Acio with his assistant served as the Chief Priest of Puje, an important cult among the wapa Jukun. There was the Kenjo cult, the Yaku cult, the Achu-Nyande etc. Each of these cults had specific set of functions which they performed. For instance, the Achu-Nyande served a judicial function in the sense that, being a cult of lightning, rites were performed in cases of theft and was believed that lightning would strike the culprit.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]: 128. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 674, "name": "se_cayor_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Cayor", "start_year": 1549, "end_year": 1864 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a legal code was present in the Kingdom of Cayor. “Each province then, which contains many villages, is governed either by a Laman, or by a Laman and a Fara together, and of course all the villages in each are subject to their orders. There is besides, in each village, an officer totally distinct from the former. This officer is called the Gueraff. He may be considered as the mayor of the village, for it is his business to take cognizance of any violation of the laws, to bring the offenders to trial, and to repot the case, with the decision upon it, to the king.” §REF§ (The Philanthropist no. II 1811, 205) 1811. ‘Manners and Customs of the People of Cayor, Sin and Sallum’ In The Philanthropist no. II. London: Longman and Company. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/C5553ITD/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 682, "name": "se_jolof_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Jolof", "start_year": 1549, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that Sharia law was likely present as the quote mention marabouts (Islamic religious men) were legal advisors to the wealthiest in Wolof society. “The wealthiest members of society were in a position to employ marabouts, even very learned ones, as servants in their household- personal chaplains, scribes, legal advisors and tutors to their children. Some of the most famous clerics in the Sahel served in this capacity at various courts before moving out in later life to establish independent estates/schools.” §REF§ (Colvin 1986, 66) Colvin, Lucie G. 1986. ‘The Shaykh’s Men: Religion and Power in Senegambian Islam.’ Asian and African Studies. Vol. 20:1 Pp. 61-71. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GZTDTN6Q/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 699, "name": "in_thanjavur_maratha_k", "long_name": "Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom", "start_year": 1675, "end_year": 1799 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Dharmasutras. The following quote refers to the Dharmasutras, which include social and legal codes for the Hindu community, especially Brahmin men. “The subject matter of the Dharmasutras, therefore, includes education of the young and their rites of passage; ritual procedures and religion ceremonies; marriage and marital rights and obligations; dietary restrictions and food transactions; the right profession for, and the proper interaction between, different social groups; sins and their expiations; institutions for the pursuit of holiness; king and the administration of justice; crimes and punishment; death and ancestral rights. In short, the unique documents give us a glimpse if not into how people actually lived their lives in ancient India, at least into how people, especially Brahmin males, were ideally expected to live their lives within an ordered and hierarchically arranged society.” §REF§ (Olivelle 2000, 1) Olivelle, Patrick. 2000. Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana, and Vasistha. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/RTJ2KC23/collection §REF§ " }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 700, "name": "in_pandya_emp_1", "long_name": "Early Pandyas", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that there was some legal system within the Early Pandya kingdom during the Sangam Age. “Some other officials of the Sangam Age included Mandirakkanakkar (scribes in-charge of royal correspondence and were also known as Mandira Olai), Arakkalttu Andanar (judicial advisers) Tandira Vinainar (executive officials doing odd clerical jobs). Dharma Vinainar (discharging religious duties) and Ayakkanakkar (in charge of revenue collection).” §REF§ (Agnihotri 1988, 353) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 705, "name": "in_madurai_nayaks", "long_name": "Nayaks of Madurai", "start_year": 1529, "end_year": 1736 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests that a formal legal code was likely present. “Visvanatha’s arrangement in this respect was a practical solution of the difficulties he was confronted with. He pacified his clamours adherents and old, discontented chiefs by conferring on them a dignified status and definite proprietary rights over portions of land. By making the cession hereditary their self-love was flattered and their sense of responsibility increased. They were given complete powers of police and judicial administration.” §REF§ (Sathyanatha Aiyar 1991, 74) Sathyanatha Aiyar, R. 1991. History of the Nayaks of Madura. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databak/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/E2S7TSI5/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 612, "name": "ni_nok_1", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -1500, "end_year": -901 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 251) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§ " }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 615, "name": "ni_nok_2", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -900, "end_year": 0 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 251) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 642, "name": "so_geledi_sultanate", "long_name": "Sultanate of Geledi", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The quote below suggests that legal affairs were informal matters for local leaders rather than carried out through Sharia law. “As power devolved to local leaders, customary rather than Sharia’atic law dominated political relations at the local level. We saw in the previous section how the saints of Somali tradition contributed to the evolution of xeer (customary law) in the various communities where they settled. They mediated disputes, helped assess blood-wealth (diya) payments, and assisted at rituals of reconciliation. Such mediation was particularly critical in the evolving Rahanwiin confederations, which typically consisted of lineages of diverse genealogical origins and perhaps different marriage and inheritance customs. §REF§ (Cassanelli 1982, 130) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library §REF§ " }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 650, "name": "et_kaffa_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Kaffa", "start_year": 1390, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggest that there was not a formal legal code, but instead there was a group of local arbitrators for various communal disputes. “Every gafo (aggregate of houses) had its clan elder, called duke niho, father of the people, who was a functionary only in the most general sense of the word, acting as an arbitrator in disputes and as a link between his gafo and that of the rashe showo. In fact, all of the positions lower than rashe showo were engaged primarily in matters of justice. The duke niho was considered to be a nali areto or ari gecho, ‘one who knows’. The tatikisho and the gudo were also in the category of ‘those who know,’ and they were asked to arbitrate and to sit in judgement in all cases affecting a gafo or subdistrict. Usually the duke niho was asked his opinion, but a binding judgement was left to the tatikisho. If this judgement was not acceptable to either of the parties, they could appeal to the gudo. Up to this level decisions could involve the division of a piece of land or compensation for damages. The rashe showo represented the next level of appeal, although the right to arrest people or to lock them in irons was reserved for the worabi rasho.” §REF§ (Orent 1970, 292) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 608, "name": "gm_kaabu_emp", "long_name": "Kaabu", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1867 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " levels. \"We emphasise from the beginning that our historical knowledge of kings and the length of their reigns, and of the political structure and organisation of Kaabu remains very limited.\"§REF§(Giesing and Vydrine 2007: 4, quoted in Green 2009: 92) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/V2GTBN8A/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " \"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977).\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)§REF§ Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: \"Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known.\"§REF§(Law 1977: 33)§REF§ Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable." }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": "In practice, the law of 1592, as amended in 1594, seems to have been a dead letter for much of the seventeenth century, during which the only curtailment of social mobility may have been the decline of wealth within Spanish society. In any case, a fresh attempt was made to stabilise the social hierarchy with the advent of the new Bourbon dynasty in 1703.”<ref>(Casey 2002: 143) Casey, James. 2002. Early Modern Spain: A Social History. New York: Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2SNTRSWT</ref> “Moreover, the new viceroy was to ‘rule and govern’ his viceroyalty ‘in the same manner in which those [viceroys] of Peru and New Spain do, with the same powers granted to them by the Laws, Cédulas and Royal Decrees, and enjoying the same prerogatives and exemptions styled, practiced and observed in both kingdoms’. Thus, the real cédula explicitly acknowledged that the newly created office of viceroy of the New Kingdom of Granada was to operate within the same legal framework as the other Spanish viceroys in the Americas, participating in the same ceremonies and replicating the same government dynamics developed over nearly 200 years of viceregal rule.”<ref>(Eissa-Barroso 2017: 23) Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 2017. The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1739). Leiden: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XNET89MW</ref>" }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 569, "name": "mx_mexico_1", "long_name": "Early United Mexican States", "start_year": 1810, "end_year": 1920 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Mexico’s transition from colony to republic was prolonged and fitful especially regarding the development of an independent body of criminal law and procedure. The protracted Wars of Independence (1810–21), the era of Santa Anna (1833–55), the War of Reform (1858–61), and the French Intervention (1862–27) delayed the nation’s juridical break from its colonial past. Even though leaders initiated early attempts to make new laws, a half century of political pandemonium thwarted the codification of a national civil code until 1870 and a national penal code until 1871. Both codes oozed with liberalism, that drew on the heritage of José María Morelos and other early heroes, who deserve credit for enshrining liberal principles into the minds of all Mexicans. Equality of individuals before the law, fair taxation, and popular sovereignty composed the mantra of early statesmen.”§REF§(Sloan 2011: 302) Sloan, Kathryn A. 2011. “The Penal Code of 1871: From to Civil Control of Everyday Life,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 302–15. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N74WVZX2§REF§ “Political chaos and violence characterized the nation’s early history, yet leaders set out right away to enshrine liberal values in the first Constitution (1824). At the same time, several states took up the task of developing civil and penal codes. The state of Oaxaca devised the first civil code in all of Latin America in 1828 and the state of Veracruz developed the first penal code in the nation in 1835. Both drew on models from France and Spain. National penal and civil codes would take longer, both coming to fruition during the Restored Republic after 1867. Until the promulgation and enactment of the Penal Code of 1871, magistrates relied on colonial law or hastily enacted decrees to prosecute crime through the tumultuous first half-century of independence. When Benito Juárez and his fellow liberals recaptured power, the long stalled cadre of jurists set out to bring their vision of criminal jurisprudence and reform to fruition.”§REF§(Sloan 2011: 304) Sloan, Kathryn A. 2011. “The Penal Code of 1871: From to Civil Control of Everyday Life,” in A Companion to Mexican History and Culture, ed. William H. Beezley. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. 302–15. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N74WVZX2§REF§ " }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were country-wide laws that were maintained by the Chancery department. §REF§(Prestwich 2005: 61) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI§REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 568, "name": "cz_bohemian_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Bohemia - Luxembourgian and Jagiellonian Dynasty", "start_year": 1310, "end_year": 1526 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Bohemia had its own laws which were codified in the 12th century. Laws were issued directly from the monarch who was believed to have the divine right to legislate: “Seen through medieval optics, only a pious king can be a wise judge and a peacemaker, by punishing, taking people’s lives, issuing laws and making just war. This is because only a pious king is a ruler sent by God. Such observations urge us to consider the further social roles of the medieval sovereign.”§REF§(Antonin 2017: 268) Antonín, Robert. 2017. The Ideal Ruler in Medieval Bohemia, trans. Sean Mark Miller, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/G2S9M8F6§REF§ “Ondřej z Dube wrote his Bohemian Land Law (Práva zemská česká) in a complex legal culture filled with a variety of laws and jurisdictions, among them ecclesiastical (canon) law, royal law, customary law, urban law, and land law. In one respect the inhabitants of the kingdom of Bohemia shared one law: the privileges associated with being a special electorate of the Empire. By the end of the fourteenth century, Bohemia’s inhabitants could not be cited to appear before an alien court, that is, one outside the kingdom, and the kingdom, as an electorate, was not subject to the Empire the same as other lands within the Empire during an interregnum. Therefore, any discussion of law in the other imperial lands can be for comparative or narrative purposes only. Bohemia’s varieties of laws appeared in different forms, some in codices and books by glossators, some in formularies, some in proverbs, such as the proverbs from Dalimil and Smil Flaška cited at the beginning of this chapter. The Bohemian Land Law was both written and understood in the context of these varieties of law existing together in an entanglement. As in most medieval communities, more than one type of law had jurisdiction in the kingdom of Bohemia in the late Middle Ages. In fact, different laws had jurisdiction in different cases. A brief overview of these types of law makes clear that inhabitants of the Empire and Bohemia lived in a web of jurisdictions. Urban and mercantile law were types of law to which city dwellers were subject. In some medieval German cities, such as Freiburg, jus civilis made burghers free — free from the law that prevailed in the countryside, but still subject to law that governed trade, the primary function of such towns.”§REF§(Grant 2014: 31) Grant, Jeanne E. 2014. For the Common Good: The Bohemian Land Law and the Beginning of the Hussite Revolution, East Central and Eastern in the Middle Ages, 450–1450. Leiden; Boston: Brill. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GCJGUZZZ§REF§ " }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 305, "name": "it_lombard_k", "long_name": "Lombard Kingdom", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 774 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Lombards had written and codified laws.§REF§Peters 2003: xiii, 112. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/X4ETPHA7§REF§§REF§Christie 1998: 124. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/975BEGKF§REF§" }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 575, "name": "us_united_states_of_america_reconstruction", "long_name": "Us Reconstruction-Progressive", "start_year": 1866, "end_year": 1933 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The US Constitution had been ratified in 1787.§REF§ https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2VGRPEFT.§REF§" }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 563, "name": "us_antebellum", "long_name": "Antebellum US", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. §REF§Volo and Volo 2004: xiii. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SIB5XSW97§REF§" }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 302, "name": "gb_tudor_stuart", "long_name": "England Tudor-Stuart", "start_year": 1486, "end_year": 1689 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “In addition to the courts of Chancery and Exchequer, there were in London common law courts of King’s Bench and Common Pleas, the former for cases, both civil and criminal, in which the Crown was involved, the latter for civil suits, especially those involving property, contract, or debt, between subjects. Common law was the body of law that had evolved out of judicial precedent and custom. It was uncodified, as opposed to statute law, which was created by acts passed by Parliament and approved by the king.”§REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 49) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§" }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 606, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_2", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England II", "start_year": 927, "end_year": 1065 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Laws were codified and enforced by the king, his officials in the local courts, and bishops and priest. In the preceding polity, King Alfred had established a code of law which incorporated laws from the other kingdoms to create a central English law as part of his vision to unify the entire of England under one kingdom. This was now the central law of the Kingdom of England.§REF§(Roberts et al 2014: 29-31) Roberts, Clayton, Roberts, F. David, and Bisson, Douglas. 2014. ‘Anglo-Saxon England: 450–1066’, in A History of England, Volume 1, 6th ed. Routledge. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/P2IHD9U3§REF§" }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The monumental codification of civil law in 1812 was based on the principles of equality of all before the law.”§REF§(Curtis 2013: 271) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92§REF§ " }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " There were specialised Hanafi law schools where training would take place.§REF§Buniyatov 2015: 103 . https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH§REF§" }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": "There were both written and unwritten laws across the Empire, some of which did not survive in practice as many laws were not codified. The largest territory of the Empire, Germany, had not completely codified its laws until 1806. §REF§Wilson 2016: 604. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§ Laws were also local to each member country of the Empire and so it was not uniform across all territories. There were two forms of institutional law; one comprised the rules for the elite population and their homage, vassalage and fealty to the monarch, while canon law was a more widespread form of moral, legal and ecclesiastical laws. Between 1037 and 1158 Emperor’s issued four statutes regarding feudal relations.§REF§Wilson 2016: 606. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§" }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 565, "name": "at_habsburg_1", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty I", "start_year": 1454, "end_year": 1648 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": "§REF§(Curtis 2013: 101) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92§REF§" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 351, "name": "am_artaxiad_dyn", "long_name": "Armenian Kingdom", "start_year": -188, "end_year": 6 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Laws and policies were determined by, and issued in the name of, the ruling king.§REF§Payaslian 2007: 14. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/H8NEU6KD§REF§" }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 573, "name": "ru_golden_horde", "long_name": "Golden Horde", "start_year": 1240, "end_year": 1440 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Prior to Islamisation in the fourteenth century, the Golden Horde’s legal system was Mongol customary law and its nomadic laws were codified. After the conversion to Islam, the Horde followed the Muslim religious laws of Shar’iat.§REF§Halperin 1987: 93. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.§REF§" }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The Saffarids followed Islamic Sharī’a law.§REF§Bosworth 1994: 183, 293. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7W46D62E§REF§" }, { "id": 401, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Formal_legal_code", "formal_legal_code": "present", "comment": null, "description": " English law applied throughout the UK and the British Empire. §REF§(Chambers and Chambers 1847: 275) Chambers, Robert and Chambers, William. eds. 1847. History and Present State the British Empire. London: W.R.Chambers. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K77JRGEL§REF§" } ] }