1948 · Civil codes

Egyptian Civil Code (Sanhuri)

Egypt

A civil code drafted by the jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri that combined a French-style structure with rules drawn from Islamic law.

Why it matters

It became the template for civil codes across the Arab world, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait and the UAE.

Built on

1804

French Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)

France

structure and many rules came from the French code

1869 to 1876

Ottoman Mecelle (Majalla)

Ottoman Empire

Islamic-law sources, partly through the earlier Mecelle

Went on to shape

1949

Syrian Civil Code

Syria

drafted at the same time by Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanhuri

1951

Iraqi Civil Code

Iraq

drafted by the same jurist and modelled on it

1976

Jordanian Civil Code

Jordan

followed its framework

1985

UAE Civil Transactions Law

United Arab Emirates

modelled on the Egyptian code, with Islamic-law elements

Countries in the Legal Families Atlas

Egypt

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.