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Code Henry

The first comprehensive legal code of the Kingdom of Haiti, promulgated by King Henry Christophe on February 20, 1812 — a sovereign act of juridical self-determination just eight years after the world's only successful slave revolution produced an independent nation. This digital edition presents the complete Code in 3,004 articles spanning 8 laws and 67 titres — from the Loi Civile's 1,535 articles on personhood, marriage, property, and succession, to the Loi sur la Procédure Criminelle's 421 articles on investigation, confrontation, and royal clemency. Every article has been hand-extracted from 19th-century OCR, corrected, translated into English, and annotated with plain-language life lessons and scholarly notes. Browse in French, English, or Kreyòl Ayisyen. 3,004 articles · 8 laws · 3 languages · 213 years restored

3,004 articles in the Code Henry

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41
Article 41 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
In case of opposition, the lieutenant judge may not pronounce the marriage until the opposition has been lifted, under penalty of a fifty-gourde fine to...
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In case of opposition, the lieutenant judge may not pronounce the marriage until the opposition has been lifted, under penalty of a fifty-gourde fine to be paid into the octroi fund, and all damages and interest.

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42
Article 42 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
If there is no opposition, mention thereof shall be made in the marriage record.
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If there is no opposition, mention thereof shall be made in the marriage record.

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43
Article 43 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
Acts of opposition are served at the parties' domicile and upon the lieutenant judge, who places his visa on the original. The lieutenant judge makes...
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Acts of opposition are served at the parties' domicile and upon the lieutenant judge, who places his visa on the original. The lieutenant judge makes summary mention of oppositions in the publications register. He likewise notes, in the margin of the oppositions, the judgments of release that are submitted to him.

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44
Article 44 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
The future spouses, after the prescribed period following the publications, shall appear before the lieutenant judge on the day indicated by them, with four male...
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The future spouses, after the prescribed period following the publications, shall appear before the lieutenant judge on the day indicated by them, with four male witnesses of legal age, whether relatives or not.

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45
Article 45 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
The lieutenant judge reads aloud, in the presence of the future spouses and witnesses, the documents relating to the parties' status and the marriage formalities;...
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The lieutenant judge reads aloud, in the presence of the future spouses and witnesses, the documents relating to the parties' status and the marriage formalities; namely: 1st, the act of consent of the father and mother, or of the family in the case of minority of the future spouses, of the commanding officers for military personnel, and of the appropriate authority for workers and manufacturers; 2nd, the birth records of the parties, or acts of notoriety in their place; 3rd, the death certificates of fathers and mothers, if applicable; 4th, the publications made by the parish priest; 5th, the oppositions, if any, and in that case, the judgments of release that were rendered.

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46
Article 46 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
The lieutenant judge, after reading the above documents, receives from the parties, one after the other, in the presence of four witnesses, the declaration that...
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The lieutenant judge, after reading the above documents, receives from the parties, one after the other, in the presence of four witnesses, the declaration that they take each other as husband and wife, and pronounces, in the name of the law, that they are united in marriage.

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47
Article 47 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Marriage Law
He shall draw up the record immediately. This record shall express: 1st, the given names, surnames, ages, places of birth, professions, and domiciles of the...
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He shall draw up the record immediately. This record shall express: 1st, the given names, surnames, ages, places of birth, professions, and domiciles of the spouses; 2nd, the consent of the fathers and mothers, or of the family, in the case of minority of the spouses; 3rd, the publications that were made, and mention of dispensations, if any; 4th, the oppositions, and in that case, their lifting, or mention that there was no opposition; 5th, the declaration of the contracting parties to take each other as spouses, and the pronouncement of their union by the lieutenant judge; 6th, finally, the given names, surnames, ages, professions, and domiciles of the witnesses, and their declaration of relationship or alliance to the parties, and to what degree.

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48
Article 48 Civil Law · Des Actes de Mariage
Criminal Law
The lieutenant judge who, instead of inscribing the marriage record in the public registers, merely drafts it on a loose sheet, shall be criminally prosecuted,...
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The lieutenant judge who, instead of inscribing the marriage record in the public registers, merely drafts it on a loose sheet, shall be criminally prosecuted, at the diligence of the king's prosecutor or the interested parties, and sentenced to an afflictive penalty that may not exceed five years of detention at the king's bench, nor be less than three years, and in addition to damages and interest toward the spouses.

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49
Article 49 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Civil Administration
The declaration of death shall be made immediately to the lieutenant judge. This declaration must be made by two of the closest relatives or neighbors...
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The declaration of death shall be made immediately to the lieutenant judge. This declaration must be made by two of the closest relatives or neighbors of the deceased, or by the person in charge of the house or manufactory, assisted by two witnesses, relatives or not, when the death occurs elsewhere than at the deceased's own domicile. The declaration of death of individuals found dead on roads and public ways is made by the officer or non-commissioned officer of the local constabulary, who shall draft a report on the state of the body, in concert with health officers whose services have been required.

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50
Article 50 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Criminal Law
Persons who, being required to make the declaration of a death, fail to do so immediately, shall be fined four gourdes, to be paid into...
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Persons who, being required to make the declaration of a death, fail to do so immediately, shall be fined four gourdes, to be paid into the octroi fund, unless they prove their physical impossibility of doing so by a certificate from the constabulary officer commanding the nearest post. In all cases, no more than ten days may elapse between the death and the declaration.

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51
Article 51 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Civil Administration
In towns or boroughs, the lieutenant judge, before drafting the death record, is required to go to the body to confirm the death. No burial...
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In towns or boroughs, the lieutenant judge, before drafting the death record, is required to go to the body to confirm the death. No burial may take place without his authorization, which he may not issue until twelve hours after death, unless the necessity of a more prompt burial is certified by a health officer.

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52
Article 52 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Civil Administration
Outside towns or boroughs, the permission to bury is delivered within the same delay as above, by the officer or non-commissioned officer of the constabulary...
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Outside towns or boroughs, the permission to bury is delivered within the same delay as above, by the officer or non-commissioned officer of the constabulary commanding the nearest post, who shall go to the body to confirm the death, and deliver a certificate which is presented to the lieutenant judge when drafting the death record.

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53
Article 53 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Civil Administration
The death record shall state the given names, surnames, age, profession, and domicile of the deceased, the given names and surname of his wife if...
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The death record shall state the given names, surnames, age, profession, and domicile of the deceased, the given names and surname of his wife if he was married or widowed, the given names, surnames, ages, professions, and domiciles of the declarants, the degree of kinship if they are relatives of the deceased, and insofar as can be known, the given names, surnames, profession, and domicile of the father and mother, and the birthplace of the deceased.

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54
Article 54 Civil Law · Des Actes de Décès
Military Law
The death of military personnel and sailors who died in camps or in military hospitals, or on board vessels, shall be recorded in the manner...
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The death of military personnel and sailors who died in camps or in military hospitals, or on board vessels, shall be recorded in the manner prescribed by military and maritime law.

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55
Article 55 Civil Law · De la Rectification des Actes civils
Civil Administration
Marginal notes and strikethroughs must be approved and signed in the same manner as the body of the act. Nothing shall be written in abbreviation,...
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Marginal notes and strikethroughs must be approved and signed in the same manner as the body of the act. Nothing shall be written in abbreviation, nor any date written in numerals.

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56
Article 56 Civil Law · De la Rectification des Actes civils
Civil Administration
The lieutenant judge is responsible for alterations while the registers are in his possession. Upon deposit of the duplicate registers at the end of each...
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The lieutenant judge is responsible for alterations while the registers are in his possession. Upon deposit of the duplicate registers at the end of each year, the king's prosecutor is required to verify their condition, close and finalize them. If there are nullities, he shall draft a report and require that the parties and witnesses who subscribed to the void acts appear before the same lieutenant judge to draft a new act; this is ordered by the seneschal and carried out within eight days by the lieutenant judge. If witnesses cannot appear due to death, absence, or other impediment, they shall be replaced by other witnesses. The effect of the new act relates back to the date of the first, and mention thereof is made in the margin.

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57
Article 57 Civil Law · De la Rectification des Actes civils
Criminal Law
The king's prosecutor shall report violations committed by the lieutenant judges and shall seek their conviction for the fines stated above; except in cases of...
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The king's prosecutor shall report violations committed by the lieutenant judges and shall seek their conviction for the fines stated above; except in cases of forgery or alteration, in which case they shall be prosecuted criminally.

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58
Article 58 Civil Law · De la Rectification des Actes civils
Judicial Procedure
Rectifications to the registers may also be requested by interested parties. The request is presented to the seneschal, who shall rule after hearing the king's...
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Rectifications to the registers may also be requested by interested parties. The request is presented to the seneschal, who shall rule after hearing the king's prosecutor's written conclusions. This judgment is subject to appeal. Interested parties who did not request the rectification or who were not called to participate shall always be entitled to bring third-party opposition to the rectification judgment.

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59
Article 59 Civil Law · De la Rectification des Actes civils
Judicial Procedure
Rectification judgments rendered as final decisions, or having acquired the force of res judicata, are inscribed in the registers on the day they are delivered...
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Rectification judgments rendered as final decisions, or having acquired the force of res judicata, are inscribed in the registers on the day they are delivered to the lieutenant judge, and mention thereof is made in the margin of the amended act.

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60
Article 60 Civil Law
Civil Law
The place of principal establishment of every Haytian shall constitute his domicile, which may only be changed by an express declaration made at the clerk's...
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The place of principal establishment of every Haytian shall constitute his domicile, which may only be changed by an express declaration made at the clerk's office of the jurisdiction being left, and at that of the place newly adopted.