Six Codes

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Six Codes, (Japanese 六法 (roppō) Chinese: 六法 (liufa)), refers to the six main legal codes that makes up the main body of law in Taiwan and Japan.

Sometimes, the term is also used to describe the six major areas of law. Furthermore, it may refer to all or part of a collection of statutes.

In Taiwan the six codes are^[1]:

the Constitution of Taiwan 憲法
the Civil Code 民法
the Code of Civil Procedures 民事訴訟法及相關法
the Criminal Code 刑法
the Code of Criminal Procedures 刑事訴訟法及相關法
the Administrative laws 行政法及行政訴訟相關法

In Japan, the six codes are:

the Civil Code (民法 Minpō, 1896)
the Commercial Code (商法 Shōhō, 1899)
the Criminal Code (刑法 Keihō, 1907)
the Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法 Nippon-koku-kenpō, 1946)
the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法 Keiji-soshō-hō, 1948)
the Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法 Minji-soshō-hō, 1996)

The word roppō is a slightly adapted form of the word used in Japanese to describe the Napoleonic Code (ナポレオン五法典 Napoleon go-hōten) when it was brought over during the early Meiji period. Although the Napleonic Code consisted of five major codes, the Japanese added to this their own constitution to form six codes in all, and thus it came to be called the roppō or "six codes".

Legislation in Japan tends to be terse. The statutory volume Roppō Zensho, similar in size to a large dictionary, contains all six codes as well as many other statutes enacted by the Diet.