German Civil Code (2nd Edition)

Author: Chen Weizuo
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-02-01
Features: The German Civil Code is the result of Dr. Chen Weizuo, Associate Professor at the Law School of Tsinghua University, during his study in Germany from 1998 to 2004. Its first edition, published in 2004, received widespread praise from readers. In the year and a half since the first edition's publication, German legislators have enacted a series of new laws, amending, adding, and repealing many provisions of the German Civil Code, affecting over 60 articles, clauses, sub-clauses, and sentences. To help readers better understand the latest developments of the German Civil Code, the translator has revised and re-translated the text based on the latest version of the code for the second edition. The second edition retains most of the annotations from the first edition; by comparing the German original with multiple English, French, and Japanese translations, the translator strives for greater accuracy in the translation. The translator has also incorporated readers' constructive feedback to further improve the quality of the text. In summary, this book is the product of Dr. Chen Weizuo, who holds doctorates in both Chinese and German law, and is the result of years of effort. Whether in terms of rigorous attitude, translation skills, academic foundation, or professional level, it is a highly reliable new translation of the German Civil Code. — Wang Liming
In the year and a half since the first edition of this book was published, German legislators have enacted a series of new laws, amending, adding, and repealing many provisions of the German Civil Code, affecting over 60 articles, clauses, sub-clauses, and sentences. For details, see the translator's table of amendments. To help readers better understand the latest developments of the German Civil Code and meet the demand for more people to have a new translation of the German Civil Code, the translator has revised the amended provisions in this second edition, based on the latest text available at the time of publication—the official text promulgated on January 2, 2002 (see Federal Law Gazette, 2002, Part 1, No. 42; corrections see Federal Law Gazette, 2002, Part 1, No. 2909 and 2003, Part 1, No. 738), last amended by the law of February 6, 2005 (see Federal Law Gazette, 2005, Part 1, No. 203), reflecting the legislative status of the German Civil Code as of March 1, 2005 (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) in der Fassung der Bekanntmachung vom 2.1.2002 (BGBl. 2002 IS. 42, ber. BGBl. 2002 IS. 2909 und BGBl. 2003 IS. 738), zuletzt ge?ndert durch das Gesetz vom 6.2.2005 (BGBl. 2005 IS. 203), Stand: 1.3.2005).
Since the first edition of this book was published, many readers have sent emails, not only expressing enthusiastic encouragement for the translator's annotations on the German Civil Code but also raising serious and constructive criticisms about errors, omissions, or debatable points in the translation and annotations, which have been very helpful to the translator. During the spring semester of 2004–2005, I first offered the course "Introduction to German Civil Law" to undergraduates at the Law School of Tsinghua University. In both in-class and out-of-class discussions, as well as in midterm and final examinations, these diligent and thoughtful Tsinghua students raised many insightful questions that I, as the teacher, found difficult to answer on the spot, prompting me to reflect more deeply afterward and improving myself in the process. They also bravely and frankly pointed out inappropriate or confusing parts of my translation, making valuable contributions to the improvement of the translation quality. These students include: Long Jun, He Yinan, Qi Hui, Zhu Xinlin, Gao Xuewen, Chen Jingdong, Zhang Ming, Zhou Ying, Li Yan, Han Lu, Zhang Yan, Lou Ying, Zhao Teng, Su Wéntian, Chen Xi, Zhang Sili, Sun Yihan, Luo Can, Mao Jie, Bian Dawei, Xu Pei, Lin, Ma Nan, Zhang Xuan, Xu Xie, Xu Shanshan, Shi Qimin, Liu Changxia, Sun Rongjie, Zhang Boyu, and Zhao Jun, among others. Lecturer Cheng Xiao at the Law School of Tsinghua University, Professor Huang Jiange of the Civil Law Department at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, graduate student Liu Zhengzhong at the Law School of Wuhan University, graduate student Liu Zhaolian at the Law School of Tsinghua University, and student Xie Hongtao of the Law School of China University of Political Science and Law in the 2004 class also provided valuable feedback. For this revision, I fully considered their criticisms and improvement suggestions. Compared to the first edition, the second edition of the translation has undergone numerous revisions. According to the translator's rough estimate, over 10,000 words, phrases, and terms have been changed, almost equivalent to a complete retranslation. The annotations in the second edition have removed many of the annotations in the first edition comparing the 2004 text with texts before 2000, as these are no longer latest with the passage of time. If readers wish to learn about this, they can still refer to the relevant annotations in the first edition; to understand the changes in provisions between the second and first editions, they only need to refer to the translator's table of amendments and the corresponding provisions in both versions. Additionally, while supplementing the annotations for Book V Inheritance Law, which were not included in the first edition due to technical reasons, the translator has also removed some overly repetitive annotations in the first edition, reducing the number of annotations in the second edition to 1,789.
From June 30 to July 29, 2005, the translator conducted research at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, where he was able to photocopy another English translation of the German Civil Code after Wang Chonghui's translation (1907 edition), namely the translation by Walter Loewy, published in 1909 (The Civil Code of the German Empire, as Enacted on August 18, 1896, with the Introductory Statute Enacted on the Same Date. Translated by Walter Loewy. Translated and Published Under the Auspices of and Annotated by a Special Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. Published: Boston Book Co., 1909). It can be seen that although Wang Chonghui's translation is the earliest English translation of the German Civil Code and was the best at the time, it was not the only English translation before 1975. The second edition of this book has made corresponding corrections to the statements in Professor Martinnek's preface.