Comparison Between the Justinian Law Code and the Bill of Rights

Emily McRae

3*13*00

PIB World History

Comparison between the Justinian Law Code and the Bill of Rights

The key points of the Justinian Law Code and the American Bill of Rights [the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution] are parallel and similar. Both contain the right to own property and the right to a fair trial. They also contain a division of power known in America today as statism and federalism. However, the Bill of Rights was written for a democracy, while the Justinian Law Code was written under an empirical monarchy.

The Bill of Rights states in the fourth amendment that people have the right to security in their homes and of their possessions without the fear of unreasonable search or seizure. This law itself reflects the beginning of the anti-theft amendments, and the rights of a civilian to have property, position, and land; which is a key differentiation between communism, in which few have personal property; and democracy, in which men are free to trade and own property, position, and land. The Justinian Law Code has a precept, upon which the laws are based, an understood truth, “to give each one that which belongs to him”. This preamble prevents the removal of office, property, or honor- something which the American forefathers neglected to include, making for misery on many a politician’s part, and many more of a civilian’s.

Both the Bill of Rights and the Justinian Law Code promise the right to a fair and unbiased trial. The sixth amendment states the right to an impartial jury and a public trial with the right to obtain witnesses in favor of the accused. The Justinian Law Code also instructs in the presentation of a fair trial with an impartial jury for the accused. From that point on the jury’s decisions are up to no debate. Their opinions and decisions mark the fate of the accused in the same way American jurors decide the fate of those who are tried in front of them.

The United States tenth amendment states the powers not delegated to the United States government are the states' or the people’s. The Justinian Law Code divides law between Civil, National, and Unwritten law. The Civil law relates to the people and the National law relates to the entire empire, like our federal laws apply to the entire nation. The unwritten laws are much like the Ten Commandments on which American law is based on- they are the morals and deeds which are expected out of every good man. It was understood in Justinian’s time that the unwritten laws would be followed as well, if not better than the written ones. The same was expected of Americans, until we proved ourselves to need amendments to the constitution to protect and continue our lives. Laws regarding the death of another human being have existed throughout time, but the forefathers did not foresee the modern need to include them. With the recent death of a six-year-old child that was shot by a classmate, there is a saddening trend in push the extremes of the murder and manslaughter laws. Weaponry availability, along with new technology, has created a new extreme that is in dire need of balancing itself. Weaponry is one of many delicate issues that are difficult to rule upon, due to the restrictions of federalism. Decrees in state, local, or federal governments would be appealed because of rights of the people established by the Constitution. The laws and responsibilities are tiered so that the balance of power is not disrupted.

The similarities between the Justinian Law Code and the Bill of Rights makes it plausible that the founding fathers of America and Justinian were influenced by the same concerns and morals, and based their decisions upon such texts as the bible and previous laws written by other rulers. It is also plausible that by basing their laws on similar concepts the authors unwittingly made their civilizations comparatively stronger and more powerful for their time. These two sets of laws, adapted for their own times, have been the bases upon which their respective countries and empires have succeeded so remarkably.