Codes

The codified law this atlas documents: ancient and Near Eastern law codes, Roman law, medieval and early modern constitutional charters, national civil and private law codes, national constitutions, rights and social legislation, and international and human rights instruments, a scheme drawn from the Library of Congress Class K subject divisions cross-checked against standard legal-history periodization. National constitutions are the largest single group and are further split by world region, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and Africa and the Middle East, following the facets the Comparative Constitutions Project and the UN geoscheme use. A code differs from a statute or act in this atlas: a code is a comprehensive, foundational body of law, a statute or act is a single enacted measure, and the two are grouped in separate bands.