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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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110
Article 110 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any person convicted of having stolen from the plantations or on the highways, whether sheep, goats, pigs, or poultry, shall be required to pay the...
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Any person convicted of having stolen from the plantations or on the highways, whether sheep, goats, pigs, or poultry, shall be required to pay the value of the stolen property, and condemned to a detention of no less than fifteen days and no more than one month, employed in public works during that time.

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111
Article 111 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual accused of stealing animals such as oxen, horses, mules, and other beasts of burden, or agricultural tools, shall be brought before the courts...
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Any individual accused of stealing animals such as oxen, horses, mules, and other beasts of burden, or agricultural tools, shall be brought before the courts to be prosecuted and judged according to Articles 21 and 22 of Title I of the Criminal Law.

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112
Article 112 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any ranch keeper convicted of having killed animals entrusted to his care without the owner's knowledge, or found guilty of having fraudulently sold them for...
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Any ranch keeper convicted of having killed animals entrusted to his care without the owner's knowledge, or found guilty of having fraudulently sold them for his own account, shall be condemned to pay their value, to one year's detention at the new barricades, and employed during that time in public works.

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113
Article 113 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any agricultural worker caught in vagrancy and those who fall under Article 17 of Title I shall be brought before the commanding King's lieutenant, who...
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Any agricultural worker caught in vagrancy and those who fall under Article 17 of Title I shall be brought before the commanding King's lieutenant, who shall employ them in the King's works for one month, doubled in case of repeat offense; and for the third time, they shall be brought before the superior authority, who shall pronounce on their fate as incorrigible.

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114
Article 114 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any manager or foreman found guilty under Article 20 of Title I, concerning abuses arising from the actions of managers and foremen, shall be dismissed...
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Any manager or foreman found guilty under Article 20 of Title I, concerning abuses arising from the actions of managers and foremen, shall be dismissed from their functions and condemned to imprisonment of no less than one month and no more than three months, according to the gravity of the case.

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115
Article 115 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any manager who, within one month of the publication of this law, has not complied with the provisions of Article 4 of Title I concerning...
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Any manager who, within one month of the publication of this law, has not complied with the provisions of Article 4 of Title I concerning hospitals, shall be punished with two months' detention at the new barricades, unless he proves that he was prevented by the owner or tenant farmer; in that case, the penalty shall be imposed on whoever caused the delay.

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116
Article 116 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, and particularly the foremen who have harbored or enticed from other plantations agricultural workers of both sexes, or their children,...
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Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, and particularly the foremen who have harbored or enticed from other plantations agricultural workers of both sexes, or their children, by giving them shelter on their plantations, shall be condemned to a fine of fifty gourdes.

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117
Article 117 Law Concerning Agriculture
Elder Care
The elderly and infirm of the plantations who are unable by their condition to provide for their own existence shall be cared for, medicated, and...
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The elderly and infirm of the plantations who are unable by their condition to provide for their own existence shall be cared for, medicated, and fed at the expense of the owners and tenant farmers; in the event of their failure to do so, the King's lieutenant shall report these abuses to the King's Privy Council.

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118
Article 118 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner or tenant farmer who has not supplied the utensils and agricultural tools to the workers of his plantation shall be compelled to do...
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Any owner or tenant farmer who has not supplied the utensils and agricultural tools to the workers of his plantation shall be compelled to do so by force, and additionally condemned to a fine proportional to the value of the tools he failed to provide.

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119
Article 119 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner and tenant farmer who have neglected to build the structures and supply the movable objects necessary for the operation and activity of the...
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Any owner and tenant farmer who have neglected to build the structures and supply the movable objects necessary for the operation and activity of the manufactories, as prescribed by law, shall be compelled to do so by force, upon the report made by the King's lieutenant to the intendants, and by them to the Minister of Finance and the Interior.

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120
Article 120 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, or foreman who has not manufactured the produce with the care and precautions required by law shall be condemned to...
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Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, or foreman who has not manufactured the produce with the care and precautions required by law shall be condemned to a fine of twenty-five gourdes; and in cases where the produce was manufactured with fraudulent intent, the offenders shall be prosecuted criminally as thieves, and the fraudulent produce confiscated for the benefit of the King; one-quarter shall be allocated to the informers.

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121
Article 121 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner or tenant farmer who has not carried out during the year the plantings of commodities, provisions, grains, and fruit trees as prescribed by...
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Any owner or tenant farmer who has not carried out during the year the plantings of commodities, provisions, grains, and fruit trees as prescribed by Title III on plantations, the fact duly established per Articles 54 and 55 of said title, shall pay a fine of no less than twenty-five gourdes and no more than fifty gourdes; if these violations arise from the managers or foremen themselves, they shall incur a fine of no less than twelve gourdes and no more than twenty-four gourdes.

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122
Article 122 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, or foreman who has not fenced the provision grounds or gardens of the plantations in the forms prescribed by Article...
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Any owner, tenant farmer, manager, or foreman who has not fenced the provision grounds or gardens of the plantations in the forms prescribed by Article 84 of Title V on Land Services, within four months of the publication of this law, shall be condemned to a fine of twenty gourdes, to be borne by the resident on the plantation if it is his fault.

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123
Article 123 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner or tenant farmer who has not repaired the irrigation canals and those carrying water to the facilities, and who has not cleaned the...
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Any owner or tenant farmer who has not repaired the irrigation canals and those carrying water to the facilities, and who has not cleaned the shared or unshared ditches, as prescribed by Articles 85 and 86 of Title V on Land Services, within four months of the publication hereof, shall be compelled to do so and additionally condemned to a fine of twelve gourdes.

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124
Article 124 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any owner and tenant farmer shall pay a fine of twenty-five gourdes for each carreau of land they have cleared without having planted it with...
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Any owner and tenant farmer shall pay a fine of twenty-five gourdes for each carreau of land they have cleared without having planted it with commodities.

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125
Article 125 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual caught cutting hedges or fences to make a passage or for firewood shall be arrested and brought before the local judge, condemned to...
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Any individual caught cutting hedges or fences to make a passage or for firewood shall be arrested and brought before the local judge, condemned to a fine of eight gourdes and fifteen days' detention.

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126
Article 126 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual who has maimed or killed an animal useful to agriculture, as mentioned in Article 87 of Title VI, shall be condemned to pay...
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Any individual who has maimed or killed an animal useful to agriculture, as mentioned in Article 87 of Title VI, shall be condemned to pay the owner the fair value of the animal, and shall additionally serve one month's imprisonment, unless he killed or maimed it in self-defense.

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127
Article 127 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual who has maimed or killed an animal of a ranch, without any exception as to species, in areas designated for ranches or corrals,...
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Any individual who has maimed or killed an animal of a ranch, without any exception as to species, in areas designated for ranches or corrals, unless he killed it in self-defense, shall suffer the penalty set forth in the article above.

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128
Article 128 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual who has violated the provisions of Article 97 of Title VI by buying or selling one or more animals; both buyer and seller...
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Any individual who has violated the provisions of Article 97 of Title VI by buying or selling one or more animals; both buyer and seller shall be jointly condemned to a fine of twenty-five gourdes; and in cases where the animals were not the seller's property, they shall be sent to the impound to be sold within the time prescribed by law if unclaimed, and the seller prosecuted as a thief.

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129
Article 129 Law Concerning Agriculture
Penalties
Any individual, other than butchers and those authorized, convicted of having sold beef shall be condemned to a fine of fifty gourdes and two months'...
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Any individual, other than butchers and those authorized, convicted of having sold beef shall be condemned to a fine of fifty gourdes and two months' imprisonment at the new barricades; the fine doubled in case of repeat offense, and six months at the new barricades.