The founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 brought an end to the Ottoman Empire's system of parallel laws, which were applied depending on a citizen's religion, gender, community, and occupational status or sect, and established a single, secular, and standardized judicial system based the European system of law. The Turkish Civil Code of 1926, adapted from the Swiss Civil Code, abolished polygyny and granted women equal rights in matters of divorce, child custody, and inheritance. The Turkish Penal Code, also adopted in 1926, is based on the Italian Criminal Code.

An extensive refo…