Mecelle

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The Mecelle ( Ottoman مجلۀ احکام عدلیه İA Mecelle-ʾi Aḥkām-ı ʿAdlīye , German 'Book of Legal Provisions' ) was the civil code of the Ottoman Empire that was created between 1869 and 1876 under the leadership of Ahmed Cevdet Pasha . The “legal code” was a compilation or the first attempt at a codification of property-related provisions of Islamic law . Basically, the law, consisting of 16 books, was based on the Hanafi school of law . It included the law of obligations as well as some property , personal and procedural law, whereas inheritance and family law and the law of pious foundations were not dealt with.

The Mecelle came into force bit by bit from 1870 through imperial decrees ( irade ) in the Ottoman-ruled areas with the exception of Egypt.

history

Emergence

The reform of the Ottoman legal system began with Hatt-ı Şerif, read by Foreign Minister Reşid Pascha in Gülhane Park on November 3, 1839 (خط شريف / 'Noble handwriting'), which heralded the era of the Tanzimat , i.e. the reorganization. The reforms passed, as in the case of out of the French translated Commercial Code ( Kânunnâme-i Ticaret  /قانوننامۀ تجارت) of July 28, 1850, primarily from the reception of foreign laws.

Combined with the Crimean War (1853-1856) between the Ottoman Empire, France and Great Britain on the one hand and the Russian Empire on the other, trade with the Europeans was further expanded. Naturally, the increase in trade relations led to an increase in the number of processes that took place before the mixed dishes ( Mehâkim-i Muhtelita  /محاكم مختلطة) were kept according to the provisions of the Commercial Code of 1850. The result was that the courts were unable to cope with the significant and increasing number of legal disputes. The available scheriat dishes were not addressed by the Europeans, as before these the testimony of a non-Muslim against a Muslim and a Musta'min against a dhimmi was inadmissible. To solve this problem, the translation and application of the Civil Code was proposed, which found supporters, but against which the ulama refused . The government opted for a compilation of property provisions of Islamic law ( Fiqh al-Mu'amalat  /فقه المعاملات / 'Law on Interpersonal Relationships'). A generally understandable code of law ( metn-i metîn  /متن متين / 'Sober text').

Work on Metn-i Metîn began on November 2, 1855 under the chairmanship of Rüşdi Molla Efendis, a member of the Tanzimat High Council ( Meclis-i Âli-i Tanzimât  /مجلس عالی تنظیمات). Other members were the Istanbul Kadısı Tahir Efendi, the court chronicler ( vakʿanüvis  /وقعه نویس / 'Event writer ') Cevdet Efendi and Hüsam Efendi and Ali Ratib Bey, both members of the General Education Council ( Meclis-i Maârif-i Umûmiye  /مجلس معارف عموميه). The committee completed a part or a first book, namely the Kitâbü'l-Büyû (كتاب البيوع / 'Book about the sale'), but then broke up due to the unsuitable selection of committee members for unspent work.

Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha, one of the main proponents of a reception of the civil code.

On November 30, 1867, Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha wrote a memorandum to Sultan Abdülaziz , in which he emphatically advocated the reception of the French civil code, using the example of Egypt , where the Civil Code had been translated into Arabic . The Minister of Commerce Mehmed Kabûlî Pascha and the French Ambassador Nicolas Prosper Bourée also put pressure on this. In fact, by this time Ali Pasha had already commissioned Said Pasha to translate from Arabic and set up a committee for this purpose.

To clarify the further procedure, a special commission was finally convened, where the Pashas Ahmed Cevdet , Mehmed Fuad and Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdi were able to successfully prevail against a reception. The committee headed by Said Pascha, which by March 1868 had already completed 1,500 to 1,600 articles, was dissolved. The so-called "Scientific Society" ( Cemiyet-i İlmiye  /جمعيت علميه), to which Seyyid Halil, Seyfeddin, Seyyid Ahmed Hulusi, Seyyid Ahmed Hilmi, Mehmed (also Muhammed) Emin and Ibn Âbidinzâde Alâeddin belonged, began to create the mecelle under the chairmanship of Ahmed Cevdet Pascha, who was appointed Minister of Justice. The completed introduction ( Mukaddime  /مقدمة) and the Kitâbü'l-Büyû were submitted for examination on March 22, 1869 and came into force on April 20, 1869. This was followed by the Kitâbü'l-Icârât (كتاب الاجارات / 'Book about the rent') on February 7, 1870 and the Kitâbü'l- Kefâle (كتاب الكفالة / 'Book about the guarantee') on April 20, 1870.

During the Kitâbü'l-Havâle (كتاب الحوالة / 'Book about the Assignation') was still available for examination and the Kitâbü'r-Rehn (كتاب الرهن / 'Book about the pledge') was about to be completed, Ahmed Cevdet Pascha was deposed as Minister of Justice at the end of April 1870 as a result of the strong opposition of the Sheikhul Islamic Hasan Fehmi Efendi and the Ulama and was recalled by the Mecelle Commission. Hasan Fehmi Efendi, a favorite of the Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, took the view that the creation of the Mecelle was not the task of the secular Ministry of Justice, but rather that of the Bâb-ı Meşîhat (باب مشيخت / 'Office of Sheikhul Islam') fell. The Mecelle Committee, now a member of the Bâb-ı Meşîhat , developed the Kitâbü'l-Vedîa under the direction of Gerdankıran Ömer Efendis (كتاب الودیعه / 'Book on Safe Storage'), which, however, faced severe criticism because of its content and legal technique and led to Ahmed Cevdet Pascha being entrusted again on August 24, 1871. He had the affected specimens confiscated and destroyed.

Under the leadership of Ahmed Cevdet Paschas, eleven more books were completed despite the “religious opposition” that still existed. Finally, the Mecelle Commission dissolved in fact in 1876 with the accession to the throne of Abdülhamid II , but officially in 1888 without dealing with Islamic inheritance and family law.

Repeal

In Turkey , the Mecelle occurred according to Art. 43 i. V. m. Art. 48 of Law No. 864 of May 29, 1926 on the entry into force and form of application of the Civil Code, expired on October 4, 1926. It was lifted in Albania in 1928, in Lebanon in 1932, in Syria in 1949, in Iraq in 1953 and in Cyprus in the 1960s. In Israel , the mecelle officially kept until the law abolishing the mecelle ( Hebrew חוק לביטול המג'לה) of June 28, 1984 is valid. Before that, however, individual regulations and entire books, such as the first book with Article 36 of the Sales Act (חוק המכר) of 1968, were suspended. In the Palestinian Territories it is still considered a civil code today.

construction

The casuistically structured Mecelle consisted of an introduction comprising 100 articles ( Mukaddime  /مقدمة) as well as 1,751 articles in 16 books. The introduction consisted of a first (Art. 1) and a second preface (Art. 2–100). While the first preface defined the concept of Fiqh , the second preface contained 99 legal maxims , which essentially come from Ibn Nujaim.

Surname items
Mukaddime  /مقدمة / ,Introduction' 1-100
Kitâbü'l-Büyû  /كتاب البيوع / 'Book on sales' 101-403
Kitâbü'l-Icârât  /كتاب الاجارات / 'Book about rent' 404-611
Kitâbü'l-Kefâle  /كتاب الكفالة / 'Book about the guarantee' 612-672
Kitâbü'l-Havâle  /كتاب الحوالة / 'Book of instruction' 673-700
Kitâbü'r-Rehn  /كتاب الرهن / 'Book of the pledge' 701-761
Kitâbü'l-Emânât  /كتاب الامانات / 'Book of Entrustment' 762-832
Kitâbü'l-Hibe  /كتاب الهبة / 'Book about the donation' 833-880
Kitâbü'l-Gasb ve'l-Itlâf  /كتاب الغصب والاتلاف / 'Book about the usurpation and damage to other people's property' 881-940
Kitâbü'l-Hacr ve'l-Ikrâh ve'ş-Şüf'a  /كتاب الحجر والاكراه والشفعة / 'Book about the prohibition, the coercion and the right of first refusal' 941-1044
Kitâbü'ş-Şirket  /كتاب الشركات / 'Book about society' 1045-1448
Kitâbü'l-Vekâle  /كتاب الوكالة / 'Book about representation' 1449-1530
Kitâbü's-Sulh ve'l-Ibrâ  /كتاب الصلح والابراء / 'Book on Settlement and Waiver of Rights' 1531-1571
Kitâbü'l-Ikrâr  /كتاب الاقرار / 'Book of Recognition' 1572-1612
Kitâbü'd-Da'vâ  /كتاب الدعوى / 'Book of the Complaints' 1613-1675
Kitâbü'l-Beyyinât ve't-Tahlîf  /كتاب البينات والتحليف / 'Book of Evidence and the Oath' 1676-1783
Kitâbü'l-Kazâ  /كتاب القضاء / 'Book of Jurisdiction' 1784-1851

literature

  • Mehmet Âkif Aydın: Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye. In: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi. Vol. 28, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınevi, Ankara 2003, pp. 231-235 (Turkish).
  • Robert H. Eisenman : Islamic Law in Palestine and Israel. A History of the Survival of Tanzimat and Sharī'a in the British Mandate and the Jewish State. Brill, Leiden 1978, ISBN 90-04-05730-7 , pp. 19-26 (English).
  • Carter Vaughn Findley: Me dj elle. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. 6, Brill, Leiden, pp. 971 f. (English).
  • Osman Kaşıkçı: İslâm ve Osmanlı hukukunda mecelle . Istanbul 1997.
  • Hilmar Krüger: On the temporal and spatial scope of the Ottoman Mejelle. In: Hilmar Krüger (Ed.): Liber amicorum Gerhard Kegel . CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-49681-4 , p. 43-63 .
  • Ebül'ulâ Mardin: Medenî Hukuk Cephesinden Ahmet Cevdet Paşa. Cumhuriyet Matbaası, Istanbul 1946 (Turkish).
  • Sıddık Sami Onar : The Majalla. In: Majid Khadduri, Herbert J. Liebesny (Ed.): Law in the Middle East, Vol I: Origin and Development of Islamic Law. Lawbook Exchange, Clark, New Jersey 2008, ISBN 978-1-58477-864-6 , pp. 292-308 (English).

Comments

  • Hafız Mehmed Ziyâeddin: Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye Şerhi. Istanbul.
  • Hoca Emin Efendizâde Ali Haydar: Dürer ül-Hükkam Şerh-i Mecellet ül-Ahkam  /درر الحکام شرح مجلة الأحکام. Âlem Matbaası, Istanbul 1895/96.
  • Kırımlı Abdüssettâr Efendi: Mecelle Şerhi Teşrih  /مجله شرحى تشريح. Mihran Matbaası, Istanbul ( online ).
  • Hacı Reşid Pasha: Rûhu'l-Mecelle  /روح المجلة. Istanbul.
  • Salīm b. Rustam Bāz:شرح المجله / Šarḥ al-Maǧallah . Beirut 1888.

Translations

English

  • William Ebenezer Grigsby: The Medjellè or Ottoman Civil Law. Stevens & Sons, London 1895.
  • Sir Charles Robert Tyser et al. a .: The Mejelle. Government Printing Press, Nicosia 1901.

French

  • Démétrius Nicolaides: Code civil ottoman. Istanbul 1881.
  • George Young: Code Civil Ottoman. In: Corps de Droit Ottoman. Recueil des Codes, Lois, Règlements, Ordonnances et Actes les plus importants du Droit Intérieur, et d'Études sur le Droit Coutumier de l'Empire Ottoman. Vol. 6, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1906, pp. 176-446.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sabri Şakir Ansay: The Turkish law. In: Bertold Spuler u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of Oriental Studies. First department. The Near and Middle East. Supplementary Volume III, Oriental Law. Brill, Leiden, Cologne 1964, ISBN 90-04-00867-5 , p. 444.
  2. ↑ a b Ahmed Cevdet Pascha, Cavid Baysun (ed.): Tezâkir. Vol. 1 (1-12), Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1953, p. 62 f.
  3. ^ Richard L. Chambers: The Ottoman Ulema and the Tanzimat. In: Nikki R. Keddie (Ed.): Scholars, saints, and sufis. Muslim religious institutions in the Middle East since 1500. University of California Press , Berkeley, Los Angeles 1972, ISBN 0-520-02027-8 , p. 43 f.
  4. ↑ See Engin Deniz Akarlı: Belgelerle Tanzimat. Osmanlı sadrıazamlarından Ali ve Fuad Paşaların siyasî vasiyyetnâmeleri. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayınları, Istanbul 1978, p. 16.
  5. ↑ See Ebül'ulâ Mardin: Medenî Hukuk Cephesinden Ahmet Cevdet Paşa. Cumhuriyet Matbaası, Istanbul 1946, p. 174.
  6. ^ Telegram from the French chargé d'affaires M. Outrey of July 10, 1867.
  7. ↑ Cf. Ebül'ulâ Mardin: Medenî Hukuk Cephesinden Ahmet Cevdet Paşa. Cumhuriyet Matbaası, Istanbul 1946, p. 63 f.
  8. ^ A b c Niyazi Berkes: The Development of Secularism in Turkey. Routledge, New York 1998, ISBN 0-415-91983-5 , pp. 168 f.
  9. ↑ Bernard Lewis: Ḥasan Fehmī Efendi. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. 3, Brill, Leiden, p. 250.
  10. ^ A b Richard L. Chambers: The Ottoman Ulema and the Tanzimat. In: Nikki R. Keddie (Ed.): Scholars, saints, and sufis. Muslim religious institutions in the Middle East since 1500. University of California Press , Berkeley, Los Angeles 1972, ISBN 0-520-02027-8 , p. 45.
  11. ↑ Art. 43: “ […] mecelle mülgadır. ”, Art. 48:“ İşbu kanun 4 teşrinievvel 1926 tarihinden itibaren mer'idir. ”; full legal text in Turkish . ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey, accessed February 7, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mevzuat.adalet.gov.tr
  12. ↑ Carter Vaughn Findley: Me dj elle. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. 6, Brill, Leiden, p. 972.
  13. ↑ Hilmar Krüger (Ed.): Liber amicorum Gerhard Kegel . CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-49681-4 , p. 60, 63 .
  14. ↑ Carter Vaughn Findley: Me dj elle. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Vol. 6, Brill, Leiden, p. 971.
  15. ^ Sabri Şakir Ansay: The Turkish law. In: Bertold Spuler u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of Oriental Studies. First department. The Near and Middle East. Supplementary Volume III, Oriental Law. Brill, Leiden, Cologne 1964, ISBN 90-04-00867-5 , p. 450.