the Codecivil of 1804: an end and a new beginning
i This book does not aim to sketch out a �universal’ history of law' but to give a historical introduction to the development of the private law currently in force in Belgium and the Netherlands.
That law is made up of very old as well as very modern elements, and during its development it went through periods of stagnation and periods of rapid change. The most important of these periods was that of the great Napoleonic codifications, in particular the Code civil des Franfais promulgated in 1804. The Code civil is the culmination of several centuries of French legal evolution: much of it is old law, some of which goes back directly or even literally to the customary and Roman law of the Middle Ages and early modern times. None the less the Code civil of 1804 marked a decisive break in the gradual evolution of the law. It replaced the variety of the old law with a single and uniform code for the whole of France; it abolished the law which had previously been in force, in particular custom and Roman law (art. 7 of the law of 31 March 1804); it incorÂporated several ideological measures inspired by the Revolution of 1789; and it attempted to make the traditional role of legal scholarship superfluous, by forbidding doctrinal commentary on the codes, in the belief that the new legislation was clear and selfÂsufficient.The French Code civil immediately came into force in Belgium, whose territory had been annexed to France and divided into departements. As in France, so in Belgium: the Code has never yet been replaced, although numerous measures have been amended, omitted
, See the encyclopaedic work of J. Gilissen, Introduction historique au droit. Esquisse d,une histoire Universelle du droit. Les sources du droit depuis Ie XIIIe siecle. Elements d,une histoire du droit prive (Brussels, 1979).
or repealed by legislation or case law. The Code civil was also introduced in i8io-ii in the Netherlands, which were annexed to France later than Belgium. But it was replaced by a new code in 1838 which, although a Dutch adaptation, is still very close to the 1804 Code.