Civil Code General Theory

Author: Su Haopeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Establishing a "General Provisions" section in the Civil Code to serve as the guiding principle for the sections on debt relations, property rights, family, and inheritance, was a creation of the Germans (1896 Civil Code). Scholars refer to this codification style as the "pandectae" (meaning "Digest of the Pandects" or "Pandectism") model. But perhaps what the Germans themselves did not anticipate was that their legislative model would, within less than three decades, cross the ocean and be adopted by a with a long legal tradition. The 1929 Chinese Civil Code was modeled after the "German Civil Code," and even the order of its sections was identical to that of the latter. Since then, despite regime changes, social transformations, and economic transitions, the influence of German civil law has persisted. On the mainland of China, although there is still no Civil Code, drafting work has been ongoing for some time. Observing the proposed drafts completed by scholars, it is evident that the organizational structure still largely follows the pattern of the "German Civil Code." In Taiwan, the 1929 Civil Code has been amended several times and remains in effect, and its adherence to German civil law has not fundamentally changed. The influence of German civil law on China is not only reflected in the choice of codification model but also in the comprehensive adoption of concepts, institutions, legal values, and ways of thinking. This is what is truly terrifying. In Chinese civil law research and classroom teaching, the principles of good faith, good customs, legal acts, expressions of intent, reliance interests, personality, good faith, bad faith, causes, non-causes, burdens, disposition, apparent authority, subject matter, and objects are all derived from German law. We are forced to adopt German legal thinking to address Chinese issues, and the difficulty of this is self-evident. Since both mainland China and Taiwan have been influenced by German civil law, to a certain extent, German civil law has become a bond for civil law scholars on both sides of the strait to engage in academic exchange. It is clear that the impact of cultural input on a country is far more profound than the import of goods, and the adoption of legal culture can fundamentally alter the social life of a less developed nation.