The Penal Code of 1810 (French: Code pénal de 1810) was a code of criminal law created under Napoleon which replaced the Penal Code of 1791.[1] Among other things, this code reinstated a life imprisonment punishment, as well as branding. These had been abolished in the French Penal Code of 1791. Issued on June 3, 1810, it stayed in use until March 1, 1994 when it was replaced by the Code pénal.
This code served as a basis for criminal laws in many of the countries occupied at the time by the First French Empire. It was the fifth code promulgated by the Empire, and is not to be confused with the Code Napoleon of 1804 which governed civil law.