French Legal Research: Codes

Five Basic Codes

In the tradition of the civil law, codes are the basis of all French law. The five original Napoleonic codes, still the most important today, are:

• Code civil
• Code de la procédure civile (as of 1976, Le nouveau code de a procédure civile)
• Code de commerce
• Code pénal
• Code de procédure pénal

These codes, with the exception of the Code de procédure pénal, are available as official versions with a search interface, from the French government on the Internet. Unoffical versions are also available.

Paper copies of these five French codes are available in the International Legal Studies Section of the Harvard Law School Library. In the Moody call number system, they are located at:

• Code civil: FRA 310
• Nouveau code de la procédure civile: FRA 390
• Code de commerce: FRA 329
• Code pénal: FRA 380
• Code de procédure pénal:FRA 393

Other Codes

There are numerous other codes covering specific subjects. Many of these are available in the International Legal Studies section of the Harvard Law School Library. Again, these materials are arranged according to the Moody classification system, so a review of the ILS guide Using the Moody Classification System can assist the researcher to find subject specific codes. To search for a code on HOLLIS Classic , simply use a "call number - other" search.

For French codified materials, the command is "find co fra 3XX", where "3" signifies the type of material, i.e. a code, and "XX" is replaced by the Moody subject of the code desired. For example, if the search is for the French code relating to intellectual property and copyright, according to the Moody system, the subject number is "44". So, the search for this code would be "find co fra 344". The results of this search will list the French intellectual property codes which are located at ILS, including any annotated codes. A list of the numerous subjects with the corresponding two digit number is provided in the Moody Guide. Please ask the ILS Reference Staff if you need further explanation or assistance.

Other codes are also available on the Internet, both from official government sites and from unofficial sites.

Official versions available include:

• Code de la consommation
• Code de déontologie médicale
• Code electoral
• Code de la famille et de l'aide sociale
• Code des marches publics
• Code des pensions civiles et militaires de retraite
• Code de postes et télécommunications
• Code de la propriété intellectuelle
• Code de la route
• Code de la voirie routiere

Unofficial versions of the following are also available:

• Code de la consommation
• Code de l'organisation judiciaire(Partie Législative - extraits)(Partie Reglementaire - extraits)
• Code de la route
• Code des débits de boisson
• Code de déontologie médicale
• Code de la sante publique
• Code de la propriété intellectuelle
• Code des postes et télécommunications

Annotated Codes

As with any country, annotated codes are generally not available on the Internet, as commercial publishers, the source of most annotated codes, do not make their publications available for free. However the following annotated codes are available on the Internet:

• Le code annoté de la Propriété Intellectuelle

Print annotated codes are likewise available. The print annotated codes at the International Legal Studies Section of the Harvard Law School Library can be found in the same manner as unannotated codes.