Hammurabis Laws Fair vs Unfair

Hammurabi I think had an equal share of fair and unfair laws, and most of the unfair laws were not necessarily completely unfair but mainly very harsh. Some examples of unfair laws are:

• a builder who sells a poorly constructed house that collapses and kills its owner may be put to death. If the owners son rather than the owner is killed in the collapse, the builders son may be put to death

I think this law is unfair for a few reasons. One, it may not always be the builders fault if the house collapses, it could be a natural disaster, or a flood that causes leaking and the softening of a house to collapse, or it could be the fact that the owner did some changes and caused it to fall. Also if the owners son is killed I think it is unfair for the builders son to be killed, even if it is because of poor construction because the son had nothing to do with the building of it, therefor he is innocent.  

• If a wife's poor behavior publicly disgraces her husband, he can rid of her with no penalty to himself. However, he must first prove this claim in court. Once his claim is recognized he can either divorce her or marry another woman, reducing the statues of his first wife to that of a household slave girl 

I do not think this law is fair. It is fair up until a certain point, then it becomes unfair. It is obviously understandable that he can divorce and marry again, but then I do not think that he should have the right to make her social statues a household maid.  


Some laws that I think are fair are....

• If a woman is disgraced by her husband, she can also go to court. If her accusations are adequately proven she can leave her husband and take her dowry with her. 

I think this is a fair law because she is simply divorcing her husband for good reasons and moving on with her life like it never even happened. She is not doing anything to harm him. Unlike the fact if he divorces her, she does not move on and instead becomes a household slave which is unfair. 

• If, due to crop failure resulting either from a flood or drought, someone is unable to pay interest on debt, he may b excused from the interest payment that year. 

I think this is a perfectly fair law because something happens that is not his fault he is not forced to pay for something because he cannot, instead he government give him that year off.
So, obviously as you can see Hammurabi has some fair and unfair laws. They can also be very harsh.

Landau, Elaine. "Hammurabi's Babylonia." The Babylonians: 39-44. Print