Tanzimat refers to the change that the Ottoman Empire had undergone adapting to the challenging conditions of the 19th century. The most distinctive aspect of Tanzimat took place in Ottoman’s law. This change has also been in the direction of Western law. In this manner, the foundations of the legal system extending from the establishment of Republican period to the present were laid in this period. First of all, by the constitutional documents, “Tanzimat and Islahat Edicts”, the basic legal principles were accepted. Then, considering these principles, the codes of Western law were adopted in Ottoman law almost as a whole. However, this change resulted in the formation of a dualist legal system in which the concept of preserving the old was still carried, as in the direction of Westernization. In spite of the fact that the “principle of equality” has been established in the Edicts, it is acknowledged that this contradiction is due to the change did not occur with the internal dynamics coming from the Ottoman Empire itself, but with the external dynamics. For this reason, the modernization of the Ottoman law is far from specific to itself. The dual legal system is emerged as a result of the discrimination on religious grounds. While trying to establish a legal and justice system based on Western law, the sharia courts were preserved with a limited jurisdiction. On the other hand, in this era, the foundations of modern public law and especially administrative law were laid. The most important of these changes was the acceptance the concept of “code” in the modern sense. This understanding is the source of the “legal administration principle” which is valid in present law. The central administration approach was adopted in principle by the regulations of administrative organization. In this era, even if local administrations have not been created in the exact sense of today, it is still considered to have prepared the ground for their emergence.