The document summarizes some of the earliest criminal codes from ancient civilizations including the Babylonian and Sumerian codes. It states that the Babylonian code of Hammurabi established strict laws and punishments dictated by the gods to promote justice and protect the weak. The code instituted penalties like eye-for-an-eye and followed a formula of "if crime, then punishment." Similarly, the Sumerian codes from Ur-Nammu established capital punishment for crimes like murder but lesser penalties like fines and imprisonment for other offenses, and protected the innocent from false accusations. Overall, the document provides a high-level overview of some of the earliest known legal systems and codes from Mesopotamian civilizations.

1. UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF
LEGAL STUDIES
CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY
Subject:-comparative criminal procedure code(20ldt-645)
tOPIC :- BABYLONIAN
&SUMERIAN CODES
PRESENTED BY :-Vaishnavi
parashar
Llm ist semester
Uid:- 20mll1051
Presented to:-dr.jasdeep
kaur

2. INTRODUCTION
T h e crimin al ju stice sy stem h as b een
g o in g th ro u g h a co n stan t ch an g e
sin ce th e b eg in n in g o f time.
T h is sy stem h as b een n o ted to d ate
b ack to th e b ib le d ay s in th e fo rm o f
ten co mman d men ts, b u t started to
ch an g e d ramatically faster to w ard s
th e 1 7 5 0 s in Italy an d R o me .
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3. CRIMINAL CODES
Criminal Code is a document that compiles all or a significant
amount of a particular jurisdiction’s criminal law.
It also contains offences that are recognized in the
jurisdiction, penalties can be imposed and some general
provisions[such as definitions and prohibitions on retroactive
prosecution].
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4. EARLIER CODES
In the earlier times of Criminal Justice, the system was composed
of different codes which had different provisions of justice.
Most probably there were three types of most important codes,
Those three codes are as :-
 Babylonian and Sumerian codes
 Roman and Greek codes
 The Middle ages
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5. BABYLONIAN CODE
 The Law of Babylonia has made an immense effect upon that of nearly all the
countries of Europe.
 The greatest work of this nation was the production of the system of laws.
 The greatest work of this nation was the production of the system of laws.
 These systems were necessary for the extension of commercial activity in the
city.
 The use of these judicial functions, at least in maters of the law, seems to have
been in the hands of hierarchy.
 The Babylonian code was also responsible for what we know today as “trial
jury system” created by the “Common Law.”
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6. BABYLONIAN CODE OF
HAMMURABI
Hammurabi (King of Babylonian Empire from 1792 to 1750
B.C.) maintained control of empire by a code of law .
Claimed the gods had chosen him “to promote the welfare
of the people,… to cause justice to prevail in the land, to
destroy the wicked and evil, [so] that the strong might not
oppress the weak, to rise like the sun over the people, and to
light up the land.” High standards of behavior and stern
punishments for violators: Death penalty for murder, theft,
fraud, false accusations, sheltering of runaway slaves,
failure to obey royal orders, adultery, and incest.
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7. CONTD….
Civil laws regulating prices, wages, commercial
dealings, marital relationships, and the conditions
of slavery • Offenders suffered punishments
resembling their violations • If a man put out the
eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. [ An
eye for an eye • If he break another man's bone,
his bone shall be broken. • If a man knock out the
teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [
A tooth for a tooth ]
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8. SUMERIAN CODES
The laws in the Code of Ur-Nammu follow a set
pattern, i.e. If (insert crime), then (insert
punishment). • This formula would be followed by
almost all law codes that came after the Code of Ur-
Nammu. • In the law code, different categories of
crime, as well as their resulting punishments, may be
distinguished. • For example, there are a number of
capital offences, such as murder, robbery, and rape.
The punishment for such crimes was death. • For
example, “If a man commits murder, that man must
be killed.”, and “If a man violates the right of another
and depowers the virgin wife of a young man, they
shall kill that male.”
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9. CONTD…..
Those who committed offences that were less serious in nature, on
the other hand, would have been punished by imprisonment and
/ or fines. • For instance, “If a man commits a kidnapping, he is
to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver.”, and “If a man
knocks out a tooth of another man, he shall pay two shekels of
silver”. • There are also laws that ensure that if the innocence of
an accused person is proven, his / her accuser would be punished
instead. • For example, “If a man is accused of sorcery he must
undergo ordeal by water; if he is proven innocent, his accuser
must pay 3 shekels”, and • “If a man accused the wife of a man
of adultery, and the river ordeal proved her innocent, then the
man who had accused her must pay one third of a mina of silver.
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10. THANK YOU