German Civil Code (2nd Edition)

Author: Chen Weizuo
Translator's Note:
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-02-01
Features: The Civil Code of Germany is the (heart and soul work) of Dr. Chen Weizuo, an 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 revoking many provisions of the Civil Code, affecting over 60 articles, clauses, sub-clauses, and sentences. To enable readers to better understand the latest developments of the German Civil Code, the translator has revised and re-translated the text based on the latest version for the second edition. The second edition retains most of the annotations from the first edition; based on comparisons between the German original and multiple English, French, and Japanese translations, the translator strives for greater accuracy in the translation; and incorporates readers' criticisms to further improve the quality of the text. In summary, this book is the result of years of effort by Dr. Chen Weizuo, who holds doctorates in both Chinese and German law. 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 revoking many provisions of the Civil Code, affecting over 60 articles, clauses, sub-clauses, and sentences. For details, see the translator's table of amended provisions. To enable readers to better understand the new developments of the German Civil Code and to meet the demand of more people for a latest translation of the Civil Code, the translator has revised the translated text of the amended provisions for 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), finally 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: apart from their enthusiastic encouragement for my translation and annotations of the German Civil Code, they also raised serious and well-founded criticisms regarding errors, omissions, or debatable points in the translation and annotations, which have been very beneficial to me. During the spring semester of 2004–2005, I first taught the undergraduate course "Introduction to German Civil Law" at the Law School of Tsinghua University. In discussions both in and outside the classroom, as well as in midterm and final examinations, these diligent and thoughtful Tsinghua students raised many questions that were difficult for me as a teacher 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 text. These students include: Long Jun, He Yinan, Qi Hui, Zhu Xinlin, Gao Xuewen, Chen Jingdong, Zang Ming, Zhou Ying, Li Yan, Han Lu, Zhang Yan, Lou Ying, Zhao Teng, Su W??ian, 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 of the Law School of Tsinghua University, Professor Huang Jiazhen of the Civil Law Department at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, graduate student Liu Zhengzhong of the Law School of Wuhan University, graduate student Liu Zhaolian of 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 proposals. Compared to the first edition, the translation of the second edition has been revised extensively. 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 of the second edition have removed many annotations from the first edition that compared the text of 2004 with that before 2000, as these are no longer latest situations 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 need only refer to the translator's table of amended provisions and the corresponding provisions in both versions. Additionally, while (completing) the annotations for Part 5, "Inheritance Law," which were not printed due to technical reasons when the first edition was published, the translator has also removed some overly repetitive annotations from 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 introduction.