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3 Tanzimat and “Mecelle” 109

Thearchitect ofthe GiilhaneHatti, thePrimeMinisterResitPa§a, orderedthepreparation of this codę. When he presented the new co de to the High Council in 1841, he was asked if thereforms planned were applicable withthe Islamie law. He repliedthatthe Islamie law inthis fiamework had “nothing to do with thematter”⁸. Following the acceptance of the commercial codę, commercial courts were founded in 1861 and were attached to the Trade Ministry, while new additions to the legislation continued to be madę.

The adapted codes in the procedural field were basically derived ffom the French law. In 1861, the Commercial Jurisdiction Procedurę Codę, basically derived ffom the French Codę, was adapted⁹. This codę was executed until 1880, when the Legał Jurisdiction Procedurę Codę was prepared ¹⁰. In 1879, the Criminal Jurisdiction Procedurę Codę and, in 1880, the Legał Jurisdiction Procedurę Codes followed. The latter also was boirowed ffom the French legał system. The Marinę Commercial Codę ¹¹ was adapted in 1863. During the preparation of this codę, the French Marinę Commercial Codę was taken as the basis, although Italian, Dutch and sonie other laws were also cited as sources. These procedural codes were adapted with morę ease and less criticism than the civil codes. Afterwards, the West European Procedural Codes were executed in the new modem courts, serving all subjects, without discrimination.

B. Original Codes

The first criminal codę was issued in 1838, during the reign of Mahmut II, prior to Tanzimat¹². This codę, for the first time in Ottoman administration, allowed the official sueing of civil servants ¹³. The codę dealt mainly with bribery and stated the generał principle that “whoever accepts a bribe will be punished”. Civil servants were to be held to the same legał standards as the rest of the population and were to be criminally responsible for their actions. This codę foreshadows the Tanzimat declaration where the principle of eąuality was defended.

The Criminal Codę of 1840 was the first original codę after the Tanzimat declaration ^M. Stressed in the preamble to the codę was the security of life, property, and the eąuality of all subjects. In this sense it was a continuation of the Tanzimat declaration ^,5. It was the first legislation to cover all the Ottoman subjects without discrimination. From the point of view of eąuality, it was therefore morę extensive

* Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modem Turkey, Second Ed., Oxford University Press, 1968, p.110.

⁹ Dustur, (Birinci Tertip), Vol.I, p.780.

^K Dustur, (Birinci Tertip), Vol.I, p 257.

¹¹ Dustur, (Birinci Tertip), Vol.I, p.466.

^,JRe$at Kaynar, Mustafa Re$it Paja ve Tanzimat, Ankara, 1954, p.295.

¹³    Ahmet Murncu, Osmanh Devletinde Ru?ve, Ankara, 1969, p.276.

¹⁴    “In Ottoman State, the crimes not covered under Islamie law were dealt by Sultan’s traditional punishment right. Conseąuently, the first codification attempts took place in the field of criminal law”. Oęok and Mumcu, p 321.

¹⁵    Htfei Yeldet, ‘Kanunlaętirma Hsreketleri ve Tanzimat” in Tanzimat 1, Istanbul, 1940, p.176.