ABSTRACT
ON AUGUST 12, Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul promulgated a decree appointing a Code Commission of four and instructed them to have the Code ready by the ensuing November. After a carefully designed process of revisions, the Code Civil was promulgated on March 21, 1804. Again in August, on August 18, 1896, the German Emperor ratified the German Civil Code, which took effect on January 1, 1900. Between these dates, there was a century of civil codification, well known to the historians of law yet less well known to students of law and economics. In fact, the great codifications were inspired by far sighted rulers and legal scholars already before the French revolution. The Code Fredéric or Prussian Gesetzbuch of 1751, later became the Landrecht of 1794 and, although not purporting to be complete, was actually favoured by Savigny over the Code Civil. A table gives the chronology of codification relevant to the German civil law. 1 A Chronology of the German Civil Code
|
Year |
Event |
|---|---|
|
1683 |
Danske lof: proclaimed by King Christian V of Denmark |
|
1686 |
Swedish Codification Commission |
|
1734 |
Swedish Code |
|
1751 |
Code Frederic or Prussian Gesetzbuch (later Landrecht of 1794) |
|
1756 |
Codex Maximilianeus Bavaricus Civilis |
|
1770 |
Sardinian Code (based on Roman called common law) |
|
1794 |
General Landrecht (common law) for the Prussian States |
|
1800 |
French Code Commission |
|
1804 |
Code Civil des Franҫais or Code Napoleon |
|
1811 |
General Civil Code for all Austrian States |
|
1813 |
Napoleon’s defeat in Leipzig |
|
1814 |
Dispute on codification in Germany. A.J.F. Thibaut: The Need for a General Civil Code (pro) Fr. Carl v. Savigny: The Needs (Beruf) for our Time in Legislation and Jurisprudence (contra) |
|
1815 |
N. Th. Gönner: On Legislation and Jurisprudence in Our Time (pro) |
|
1816 |
P.J.A. (von) Feuerbach: A Few Words about Historical Jurisprudence (pro) |
|
1820 |
German federation (Bund) remains pure confederation without common codification |
|
1842— |
Draft civil codifications in Hesse, Bavaria, Saxony and others |
|
1847 |
Conventions of German law scholars in Frankfurt and Lubeck (pro) |
|
1849 |
Frankfurt constitution of the Church of Saint Paul (pro, article 64) |
|
1850 |
Failure due to the nullifications of its laws |
|
1866 |
Dresden draft for the Northern Federation (law of obligations) |
|
1871–1873 |
German constitution Change of the constitution to provide for common codification (Lex Lasker of December 20, 1873) |
|
1874 |
Pre-commission |
|
1874–1888 |
First commission |
|
1879–1884 |
Pre-drafts |
|
1881–1888 |
Plenary meetings, result is the first draft and the motivations |
|
1889–1893 |
Deliberations of the ministerial commission |
|
1889–1896 |
Second commission |
|
1896 |
Revisions of the third draft in the imperial council |
|
1896 |
Deliberations in the parliament during 53 sessions |
|
1896 |
First of July: of 393 members, 288 present, 222 pro, 48 contra, 18 abstentiants |
|
1900 |
From the 1st of January of this year, the German Civil Code is and remains in force |
