Article
Dec 31
Back

MIXTURE OF LEGAL IDENTITIES: CASE OF THE DUTCH (1838) AND THE SERBIAN CIVIL CODE (1844)

Sima Avramović

10.5937/AnaliPFB1804013A
ABSTRACT /

The paper aims to examine the differences and similarities between the Dutch Civil Code of 1838 and the Serbian Civil Code of 1844. Although the historical circumstances of the two countries, their legal culture and their legal systems at the time of codification were significantly different, the author points to some similarities between their private law codes. Based on that comparison he distinguishes a more general problem of early modern codifications in the 19th century, namely the issue of legal transfer’s logic, causes and outcomes. Both in the cases of the Dutch and the Serbian codifications the predominant stereotype in literature are that they were more or less copies of the model codes (the French Code Civil of 1804 and the Austrian Civil Code of 1811, respectively). The author points out that only recently some diverse intonations started to appear on this matter, related to the two codifications. He stresses that in both cases legal borrowings were in many aspects inventive, innovative and influenced by a variety of other sources. The author based his conclusion on a comparative analysis of different legal identities present in the Dutch and Serbian codes. On that ground he revises the concept of mixed legal systems and suggests that mixture of legal identities should be more flexible, less demanding and open-ended notion.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ARTICLE /
English  
REFERENCES /
  • Aličić, S., “Sistematika odredbi o obligacionim odnosima u Srpskom građanskom zakoniku u svetlu sistematike Justinijanovih Institucija”, Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Novom Sadu 38/2004.
  • Aranđelović, D., Rasprave iz privatnog prava, Beograd 1913.
  • Aranđelović, D., “O izmeni našeg Građanskog zakonika”, Branič 9(1)/
  • Asser, C., Het Nederlandsch Burgerlijk Wetboek vergeleken met het Wetboek Napoleon, De Gebroeders van Cleef, ‘s Gravenhage 1838.
  • Avramović, S., “The Serbian Civil Code of 1844: a Battleground of Legal Traditions”, Konflikt und Koexistenz. Die Rechtsordnungen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Band II – Serbien, Bosnien-Herzegowina, Albanien (Hrsg. Th. Simon), Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt am Main 2017.
  • Avramović, S., “Sretenjski ustav – 175 godina posle”, Anali Pravnog fakulteta u Beogradu 1/2010.
  • Avramović, S., Stanimirović, V., Uporedna pravna tradicija, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd 2015.
  • Blagojević, B. T., “Uticaj francuskog Građanskog zakonika na srbijanski Građanski zakonik”, Pravna misao 1940.
  • Blagojević, B. T., “L’influence du Code civil sur l’elaboration du Code civil serbe”, Revue internationale de droit comparé 6(4)/1954.
  • Brauneder, W., “Europas erste Privatrechtskodifikation: Das Galizische bürgerliche Gesetzbuch”, Naturrecht und Privatrechtskodifikation (Hrsg. H. Barta, R. Palme, W. Ingenhaeft), Wien 1999.
  • Brauneder, W., “The ‘First’ European Codification of Private Law: The ABGB”, Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta u Zagrebu 63(5–6)/2013.
  • Breneselović, L. (ed.), Spomenica Valtazara Bogišića, I–II, Službeni glasnik, Beograd 2011.
  • Chorus, J., Gerver, P-H., Hondius, E., Introduction to Dutch Law, Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn 2006.
  • Feenstra, R., Zimmermann, R. (eds.), Das römisch-holländische Recht: Fortschritte des Zivilrechts im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1992.
  • Fontein, A., “A Century of Codification in Holland”, Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 21(3)/1939.
  • Glen, H. P., Legal Traditions of the World, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007.
  • Héroguel, A., Problèmes de traductions dans les droits civils français et néerlandais, L’ Harmattan 2000.
  • Jovanović, S., “Jovan Hadžić”, Iz naše istorije i književnosti, Srpska književna zadruga, Beograd 1931.
  • Jovičić, M. (ur.), 150 godina od donošenja Srpskog građanskog zakonika 1844–1994, SANU, Beograd 1996.
  • Konstantinović, M., “Jugoslovenski građanski zakonik”, Anali Pravnog fakulteta u Beogradu 3–4/1982 (republished from Pravni zbornik 1(2–3)/1933).
  • Kovačević Kuštrimović, R. B. (ur.), 150 godina od donošenja Srpskog građanskog zakonika 1844–1994, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Nišu, Niš 1995.
  • Lok, M., van der Burg, M., “The Dutch Case: The Kingdom of Holland and the Imperial Departments”, The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture (eds. M. Broers, P. Hick. A. Guimerá), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2012.
  • Lokin, J., “Die Rezeption des Code Civil in den nördlichen Niederlanden”, Zeitschrift fur Europaisches Privatrecht 4/2004.
  • Luković, M., “Valtazar Bogišić and the General Property Code for the Principality of Montenegro: Domestic and Foreign Associates”, Balcanica 39/2008.
  • Matić, D., Objasnenija Građanskog zakonika za knjaževstvo Srbsko, I–III, Beograd 1850–51.
  • Meijer, G., Meijer, S. Y. Th., “The Influence of the Code Civil in the Netherlands”, European Journal of Law and Economics 14(3)/2002.
  • Örücü, E., “What is a Mixed Legal System: Exclusion or Expansion?”, Electronic Journal of Comparative Law 12(1)/2008.
  • Palmer, V. V., “Mixed Legal Systems… and the Myth of Pure Laws”, Louisiana Law Review 67(4)/2007.
  • Palmer, V. V., “Mixed Legal Systems”, The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law (ed. M. Bussani, U. Mattei), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2012.
  • Polojac, M., Mirković, Z. S., Đurđević, M., (ur.), Srpski građanski zakonik 170 godina, Pravni fakultet u Beogradu, Beograd 2014.
  • Ranke, L., A History of Serbia and the Serbian Revolution (translated by A. Kerr), J. Murray, London 1847.
  • Reiner, M., “Franz von Zeiller und der Code Civil Napoleons”, Mélanges Fritz Sturm (eds. J.-F. Gerkens et al.), I, Université de Liège, Liège 1999.
  • Robinson, O. F. et al., European Legal History: Sources and Institutions, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005.
  • Šeroglić, P., “Pregled Zakonika Građanskog za knjaževstvo Serbiju, 25. marta 1844. obnarodovanog”, Bačka vila 4/1845.
  • Van den Bergh, G. C. J. J., Die holländische elegante Schule: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte von Humanismus und Rechtswissenschaft in den Niederlanden 1500–1800, Klostermann, Frankfurt 2002.
  • Van der Burg, M., “Cultural and Legal Transfer in Napoleonic Europe: Codification of Dutch Civil Law as a Cross-national Process”, Comparative Legal History 3(1)/2015.
  • Van Kan, J., “Het Burgerlijk Wetboek en de Code Civil”, Gedenkboek Burgerlijk Wetboek 1838–1938 (ed. P. Scholten, E. M. Meijers), Tjeenk Willink, Zwolle 1938.
  • Watson, A., Legal Transplants –– An Approach to Comparative Law, The University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia 1993.
  • Zimmermann, R., The Law of Obligations: Roman Foundations of the Civilian Tradition, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1996.
  • Zweigert, K., Kötz, H., An Introduction to Comparative Law (translated by T. Weir), Clarendon Press, Oxford 1998.