Civil code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:48, 16 May 2023

Revision as of 03:56, 16 May 2023

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Meanwhile, the [[France|French]] [[Napoleonic code]] (''Code Civil'') was enacted in 1804 after only a few years of preparation, but it was a child of the [[French Revolution]], which is strongly reflected by its content. The French code was the most influential one because it was introduced in many countries standing under French occupation during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. In particular, countries such as [[Italy]], the [[Benelux]] countries, [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] (with the Civil Code of 1867, later replaced by the Civil Code of 1966, which is strongly influenced by the German BGB), the [[Latin America]]n countries, the province of [[Quebec]] in [[Canada]], and all other former French colonies which base their civil law systems to a strong extent on the Napoleonic Code. It is a misconception that the state of [[Louisiana]] in the [[United States]] based their civil code on the Napoleonic code. Rather, the drafters of the code were instructed to write a civil code based on the current laws, and the laws that were in effect at the time were Spanish laws based on [[Las Siete Partidas]].<ref>Alain A. Levasseur, The Major Periods of Louisiana Legal History, 41 Lov. L. REV. 585 (1996).</ref>

The late 20th19th century and the beginning 21th20th century saw the emergence of the School of [[Pandects|Pandectism]], whose work peaked in the [[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch|German Civil Code]] (BGB), which was enacted in 19901900 in the course of Germany's national unification project, and in the [[Swiss Civil Code]] (''Zivilgesetzbuch'') of 19971907. Those two codes had been most advanced in their systematic structure and classification from fundamental and general principles to specific areas of law (e.g. contract law, labour law, inheritance law). While the French Civil Code was structured in a "casuistic" approach attempting to regulate every possible case, the German BGB and the later Swiss ZGB applied a more abstract and systematic approach. Therefore, the BGB had a great deal of influence on later codification projects in countries as diverse as [[Japan]], [[Greece]], [[Turkey]], Portugal (1966 Civil Code) and [[Macau]] (1999 Civil Code).

Since 20032002 with the First law of the Civil Code of Catalonia, Parliament of Catalonia's several laws have approved the successive books of the [[Civil Code of Catalonia]]. This has replaced most of the Compilation of the Civil Law of Catalonia, several special laws and two partial codes. Only the Sixth book, relating to obligations and contracts, has to be approved.

In Europe, apart from the [[common law]] countries of the United Kingdom and Ireland, only [[Scandinavia]] remained untouched by the codification movement. The particular tradition of the civil code originally enacted in a country is often thought to have a lasting influence on the methodology employed in legal interpretation. Scholars of [[comparative law]] and economists promoting the [[legal origins theory]] of (financial) development usually subdivide the countries of the [[civil law tradition]] as belonging either to the French, Scandinavian or German group (the latter including Germany, Austria, [[Switzerland]], [[Liechtenstein]], Japan, [[Taiwan]] and [[South Korea]]).