"The deep-rooted reform movements that began in the West in the 19th century exerted their influence on the Ottoman Empire starting with the Tanzimat, in the administrative, military, economic, and legal fields, and paved the way for the enactment of various reforms and laws. During this process, in which both change and transformation were experienced, concepts such as reform, improvement, westernization, modernization, reorganization (Tanzimat), and codification began to enter the agenda of the Ottoman Empire. With the codification movement, the Ottoman Empire implemented three different approaches in its legal regulations. The first was the adoption of foreign laws by translating them from abroad into Turkish, such as French Penal and Commercial Law; the second was the restructuring of traditional law into a code form, as seen in the Mecelle, the Land Code, and the Family Law Decree on the civil law front; and the third was the consideration of both internal and external factors together in the field of constitutional law, such as the Kânûn-ı Esâsî (Basic Law). In this period, when legal, administrative, and social change occurred rapidly, society experienced serious difficulties in the mental transition from a traditional structure to a modern one. The scholars, intellectuals, and statesmen who guided society made positive contributions to this process with their works and ideas. Convinced of the legitimacy of the constitutional system, this group led the new system by demonstrating in newspapers and magazines that the Kânûn-ı Esâsî was in favor of the Ottoman subjects and that the concepts of equality, liberty, justice, and consultation were in accordance with the sacred law (sharia).