Demetrius Nicolaides in the context of "Vilayet"

The Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliye (Ottoman Turkish: مجلۀ احكام عدلیە also trans. Majallah al-Ahkam al-Adliyyah), or the Mecelle in short, was the civil code of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is the first codification of Sharia law by an Islamic nation.

Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l'Empire ottoman is a collection of Ottoman law published by Gregory Aristarchis (as Grégoire Aristarchi) and edited by Demetrius Nicolaides (as Démétrius Nicolaïdes). The volumes were published from 1873 to 1888.

The Législation Ottomane was one of the first collections of the Ottoman Law in seven volumes in French, Aristarchis is named in most volumes, except for 6–7, which, according to Strauss, "seem to have been edited solely by Demetrius Nicolaides". The collection was intended for foreigners living in the empire, including employees of foreign ministries. Strauss described it as the "best-known example of" a collection of Ottoman laws.

The 1864 Vilayet Law (Ottoman Turkish: ولایت نظامنامه‌سی, Vilâyet Nizamnâmesi, French: Loi des Vilayets ), also known as the Provincial Reform Law, was introduced during the Tanzimat era of the late Ottoman Empire. This era of administration was marked by reform movements, with provincial movements led largely by Midhat Pasha, a key player in the Vilayet Law itself. The Vilayet Law reorganized the provinces within the empire, replacing the medieval eyalet system.

Its date of initial publication in the Gregorian calendar was 8 November 1864, and the Turkish date was 7 Cümadelahir (Djem. II) or Jumaada al-Akhir (Jumada al-Thani) 1281. The law was modified in 1867. The Ottoman Turkish version was first published in Takvim-i Vekayi No. 773, and was published in Düstur Volume I, pages 517–538, and the 1867 version was printed in the Düstur Volume I, pages 608–624. The Greek version was published in Оθωμανικοί Κώδηκες ("Othōmanikoi kōdēkes", meaning "Ottoman Codes", with Demotic Greek using "Οθωμανικοί κώδικες"), page 2911. The French version was published in Législation ottomane, published by Grégoire Aristarchi Bey, Volume II, page 273.