Manual of Buddhist Law

In 1860 Major Sparks framed a Code of Burmese Law combining the written law as found in the Menu Kyay Damathat, with the lex loci or local custom. This Code, which is reproduced in this manual, is still looked upon as an authority on Buddhist Law although some portions of it have been held to be bad law; but these I have noted.

Section 4 of the Burma Courts Act, 1875, enacts that “where in any suit or proceeding, it is necessary for any Court to decide any question regarding succession, inheritance, marriage or caste, or any religious usage or institution, the Buddhist law in cases where the parties are Buddhists, shall form the rule of decision, except in so far as such law has, by legislative enactment, been altered or abolished, or is opposed to any custom having the force of law in Burma.