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Recodification of the Law in the Netherlands: The New Civil Code experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2009

E.H. Hondius
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Extract

It now looks as though the middle of the 1980's will mark an important turning point in the development of Dutch civil law. By that time, books 3–6 and some parts of book 7 of the New Civil Code will probably have entered into force in the Netherlands. Two books have already come into force and it is expected that after 1985 the remaining parts of book 7 and book 8 will soon follow suit.

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Articles
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Netherlands International Law Review , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , December 1982 , pp. 348 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © T.M.C. Asser Press 1982

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References

1. Burkens, M.C., The Complete Revision of the Dutch Constitution, 29 NILR 323–336(1982)Google Scholar.

2. Algemene bepalingen van administratief recht, 1st edition 1953, with several later editions.

3. Veldkamp, G.M.J., De vereenvoudiging en codificatie van het Nederlands sociale zekerheidsrecht, Sociaal Maandblad Arbeid 1975, 580–588Google Scholar.

4. See C.J. van Zeben and G.J.L. Seesink (eds.), Nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek, Deventer 1959- (loose-leaf), Literatuuroverzicht, which contains some 1,000 references.

5. See Basedow, Jürgen, Grundfragen der Vertragsrechtreform: Niederländische Erfahrungen, Zeitschrift für vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft 1980, 132–148Google Scholar; Dainow, J., Civil code revision in the Netherlands; the fifty questions, 5 American Journal of Comparative Law 595–610 (1956)Google Scholar; J. Dainow, Civil code revision in the Netherlands; general problems, 17 Louisiana Law Review 273–293 (1957); J. Dainow, Civil code revision in the Netherlands: some new developments in obligations and property, in: XXth Century comparative and conflicts law (Legal essays in honour of Hessel E. Yntema), Ley den 1961, 172–189; T.J. Dorhout Mees, Het ontwerp voor een Nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek, Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor wetenschappen, letteren en schone kunsten, Brussels 1964; H. Drion, Introduction to Book 6 of the Draft Civil Code of the Netherlands, 17 NILR 225–237 (1970); A.S. Hartkamp, Civil code revision in the Netherlands; a survey of its system and contents, and its influence on Dutch legal practice, 35 Louisiana Law Review 1059–1090 (1975); Hartkamp, A.S., Vers un nouveau Code civil néerlandais, Revue Internationale de droit comparé 1982, 319Google Scholar; Langemeijer, G.E., La réforme du Code civil néerlandais, Revue Internationale de droit comparé 1965, 55–72Google Scholar; F.H. Lawson, 12 International & Comparative Law Quaterly 1071–1072 (1963); Meijers, E.M., La révision du code civil néerlandais, Verzamelde Privaatrechtelijke Opstellen 1954, I, 150–173Google Scholar; Meijers, E.M., La révision du code civil néerlandais, Verzamelde Privaatrechtelijke Opstellen 1954, I, 194–204Google Scholar; von Overbeck, A., Zeitschrift für Rechtsvergieichung 1962, 190–191Google Scholar; Pitlo, A., Projet pour un nouveau code civil néerlandais, Revue internationale de droit comparé 1956, 39–53Google Scholar, Smith, T.B., The influence abroad of the modern Dutch movement for code revision, Weekblad voor privaatrecht, notariaat en registratie (WPNR) 1980, 55–61Google Scholar; Snijders, W., Vers un nouveau code civil néerlandais: état des travaux, Revue de droit international et de droit comparé 1979, 223–231Google Scholar.

6. The term ‘codification’ was coined by Bentham.

7. Arguments have been made in favour of codification before the establishment of the Bataafsche Republiek in 1795 – see J.M.J. Chorus, Hoofdstukken uit de geschiedenis van de kodifikatie van het privaatrecht in West-Europa. Amsterdam 1979 (mimeographed document University of Amsterdam), 36–45 and H. Cohen Jehoram, Over codificatie/Van voor Portalis tot na Meijers, second ed. Deventer 1970, 1–21. However, because of the absence of any central authority (Republic of the SevenUnited Netherlands) one of the major requirements for codification did not exist before 1795.

8. See van Kan, J., Les efforts de codification en France/Etude historique et psychologique, Paris 1929Google Scholar.

9. Chorus, , o.c.(footnote 7), 86Google Scholar.

10. The first draft was drawn up by a commission, in which the most influential member was the Amsterdam Professor Cras; this draft was rejected for being too erudite and theoretical. A highly practical and clear Civil Code was drafted by the Amsterdam practising attorney J. van der Linden. Finally, a draft ‘Code Napoléon adapted to the Kingdom of Holland’ was drawn up during the short reign of Louis Napoleon, the brother of the Emperor (1806–1810). Only the latter code came into force, in 1809, but two years later, in 1811, it was replaced by the French Code Napoléon.

11. On the subject of the separate legal development in Belgium and The Netherlands, see Eg. Spanoghe, and Feenstra, R. (eds.), Honderdvijftig jaar rechtsleven in Belgiê en Nederland 1830–1980, The Hague 1981Google Scholar.

12. The Civil Code, Commercial Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure and Judicial Organisation Act entered into force on 1 October 1838, in the province of Limburg on 1 January 1842.

13. Nineteenth century criticism often focused on the wording of the texts and other deficiencies in legislative technique – see A. Fontein, A century of codification in Holland, 21 Journal of comparative legislation and international law 81, 84–85 (1939).

14. Legislation is still the framework for deciding cases and moreover is considered to be all-embracing; both aspects are in contrast to the common law system.

15. See de Cupis, A., A proposito di codice e di decodificazione, Rivista di diritto civile 1979, 47–53Google Scholar.

16. Fontein, , 21 Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 81, at 88 (1939)Google Scholar.

17. Scholten, Paul, De codificatie-gedachte vóór honderd jaar en thans, Gedenkboek BW 1838–1939, Zwolle 1938, 1Google Scholar.

18. In his essay ‘Het feillooze deel van ons Burgerlijk Wetboek’ (‘the infallible part of our Civil Code’), WPNR 1928 nr. 3031, Meijers published a list of 100 code articles which were in need of a revision. In his contribution ‘Wijzingen en aanvullingen van het Burgerlijk Wetboek na 1838’ in Gedenkboek BW 1838–1938, 61 Meijers pleaded for a revision of the Civil Code, which at that time had been in existence for a hundred years.

19. Meijers had envisaged a New Civil Code in his early years – van Oven, J.C., Rechtsgeleerd Magazijn Themis 1950, 110Google Scholar. On the subject of the notes which Meijers made in antipation of a new code, see Kleijn, W.M. and Olthof, M.M., WPNR 1981 nrs. 5561/5562Google Scholar.

20. See Wiersma, K., Meijers en de hercodificatie, WPNR 1980 nr. 5504, p. 28Google Scholar, who advances two other possible reasons: first, at that time the Ministry of Justice was severely criticised for its handling of war criminals and this positive act might have diverted attention; secondly, the recodification effort was probably underestimated.

21. J. Dainow, o.c. (see footnote 5 supra).

22. As in the Netherlands, plans for recodification were also launched in France in 1947. These plans eventually led to the replacement, modification or addition of some 1,000 articles – out of 2,283 – of the French Civil Code. However, the code's structure was not altered. See Tallon, D., Codification and consolidation of the law at the present time, 14 Israel Law Review 1 ff (1979)Google Scholar.

23. See among other publications A. Pitlo, Enige bezwaren tegen de huidigc vernieuwing van ons burgeilijke wetboek, in: Het ontwerp B.W., Deventer 1961, 19–34. In the Revue internationale de droit comparé 1956, 39, 53 Pitlo was still enthusiastic about the project.

24. Including H.C.F. Schoordijk, who in his book ‘Het algemecn gedeelte van het verbintenissenrecht naar het nieuw burgerlijk wetboek’, Deventer 1979 (the first full-length treatise on Book 6 of the New Civil Code) praises the quality of Book 6, whereas in earlier publications he had criticised previous drafts.

25. By the representatives Jurgens (Radical Party) in 1975 and by senator Kaulingfreks (Catholic Party) in 1976, both without the backing of their parties.

26. van Dunné, J.M., Het werk aan het Nieuw BW; jeugdsentiment uit de jaren vijftig?, Nederlands Juristenblad 1977, 342–346Google Scholar; Grosheide, F.W., Invoering vermogensrecht NBW aanstaande? Of beter ten halve gekeerd dan ten hele gedwaald?, WPNR 1977 nrs. 5407/5408Google Scholar; Zonderland, P., Nieuw vermogensrecht als hamerstuk?, Nederlands Juristenblad 1977, 410–414Google Scholar.

27. This personal observation is supported by Fortman, B. de Gaaij (the key speaker in the parliamentary discussion), in: Problemen van wetgeving, Deventer 1982, 43, 65Google Scholar. Generally speaking, academic writers have not always shown Parliament due respect: in Nederlands Juristenblad 1976, 1189, 1201 W.C.L. van der Grinten suggested that Parliament should refrain from amending the code's text. This suggestion was not accepted enthusiastically by Parliament.

28. Section 2.5 supra.

29. Dunné, Van, Nederlands Juristenblad 1977, 342 at 345Google Scholar.

30. Not very much, according to Gordley, James, European codes and Ameridan restatements: some difficulties, 81 Columbia Law Review 140–157 (1981)Google Scholar.

31. See J. Vanderlinden, Le concept de code en Europe occidentale du XIIIe au XIXe siécle/Essai de définition, Brussels 1967; idem, Code et codification dans la pensée de Jeremy Bentham, Tijdschrift voor Privaatrechtsgeschiedenis 1964, 45–78.

32. Section 3.6 infra.

33. Paradoxically, one of the major innovations of the New Civil Code will be the introduction of the consumer transaction; thus, the old distinction between private citizen and tradesman will return in a different guise – and within one code.

34. A good example is Switzerland, where major reforms of hire-purchase law, the employment contract and consumer credit have been or are being carried out within the Obligationenrecht (Law of Obligations).

35. Gesetz zur Regelung des Rechts der Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen (Standard Contract Terms Act) of 1976.

36. Verburgh, M.J.P., De Colportagewet: voer voor maatschappijcritici en civilisten, Nederlands Juristenblad 1975, 1237–1245Google Scholar.

37. Landfermann, H.G., Die Überarbeitung des deutschen Schuldrechts aus internationalrechtlichei Sicht, RabelsZeitschrift 1981, 124Google Scholar.

38. A list drawn up by the German Federal Ministry of Justice includes some 250 laws and decrees with provisions in the area of the law of obligations – cf. Wolf, A., Weiterentwicklung und Überarbeitung des Schuldrechts, Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik 1978, 249Google Scholar.

39. See the opposing views of van Andel, J., De pachtovereenkomst in het nieuwe BW?, WPNR 1974 nr. 5258Google Scholar and Rombach, J., De pachtovereenkomst in het nieuwe BW?, Pacht 1974, 190ffGoogle Scholar.

40. Grosheide, o.c.(see footnote 26 supra).

41. E.g.: construction law, environmental law and urban planning law overlap in many areas.

42. See my thesis Standaardvoorwaarden, Deventer 1978, p. 634–635.

43. The term was coined by Neleman, P., Vaststelling boeken 3, 5 en 6 NBW, Ars Aequi 1980, 511–515Google Scholar.

44. Another, less idealistic reason for the simplicity of the Swiss code's language was that not only should it be applied by the sophisticated lawyers of cities such as Zürich, but also by the lay judges of the old Forest Cantons, for the most part peasants, see Lawson, F.H., A common law lawyer looks at codification, Inter-American Law Review 1960, 1 at 2Google Scholar.

45. Gordley, o.c. (footnote 30 supra), on p. 140.

46. The judiciary's competence or discretion to use the parliamentary record is apparently a major element for the success or failure of a codification effort. Kerr, Michael, Chairman of the (English) Law Commission, in his essay on ‘Law reform in changing times’, 96 Quarterly Review 515, 527–528 (1980), argues that the failure of the English codification effort ‘stems from a basic and apparently ineradicable feature of our constitutional philosophy: all our legislation is based on the premise that Parliament is not merely concerned with the formulation of general principles to be applied by the courts, but that every statute must, as far as possible, seek to cover every foreseeeable situation’Google Scholar.

47. Cf. Friedrich, C.J., The ideological and philosophical background, in: Schwartz, Bernard (ed.), The Code Napoléon and the common-law world, New York 1956, p. 1, at p. 4Google Scholar.

48. Such as civil marriage, divorce, limitation of the inheritance of the first-born son, limitation of the fideīcommissum, mortgage, abrogation of feudalism, etc.

49. Hoge Raad 31 January 1919 W10 365 (Mff).

50. The term was coined by Scholten, G.J., Anticiperende interpretatie, een nieuwe interpretatie-methode, WPNR 1969 nrs. 5031/5032Google Scholar.

51. Regarding this terminology, see the contribution by J.L.M. Elders to the forthcoming volume E radice arbor (essays in honour of Judge L. Erades).

52. See Nunes, Keith Dill, Toward meaningful Criteria of Actionability in the Law of Delict, in: Comparative Law Yearbook vol. 3, 1979, p. 173–213Google Scholar.

53. See C.J. van Zeben, lien koperen feest, inaugural lecture Rotterdam, Deventer 1966 and for a more up to date survey of decisions applying the New Civil Code C.J. van Zeben and G.J.L. Seesink (eds.), Nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek, Deventer 1959 – (looscleaf), Rechtspraakoverzicht, which lists more than eighty decisions.

54. Hoge Raad 7 March 1980 NJ1980, 353 (note G.J. Scholten). See also Rombach, J., WPNR 1980 nrs. 5541/5542Google Scholar.

55. One year before Van de Witte v. Bosch, the Hoge Raad had refused to apply the New Civil Code provision on strict liability for dangerous substances by way of anticipation. Hoge Raad 22 June 1979 NJ1979, 535. This refusal was attributed to the possible economic and legal consequences of a major change in this area. Another argument against the application of the new law may have been that the provision establishing liability may be supplemented, by virtue of another provision, by a decree limiting the maximum amount to be recovered. This decree has of course not yet been issued.

56. Regarding the changes in Dutch family law see Haardt, W.L., Familierecht op drift, Tijdschrift voor privaatrecht 1979, 159–171Google Scholar.

57. Numbers taken from N.H.M. Roos, Juristerij in Nederland/Sociale ontwikkelingen in de opleiding en de beroepen van juristen, Deventer 1981, pp. 97–148.

58. This is nothing new of course: in the sixth century Emperor Justinian had made provisions for education with his new codification.

59. Similarly, it is unrewarding to write a textbook on a law which will soon cease to be applied. This may be the reason why in some areas of Dutch law – most notably the law of succession and sales law – hardly any textbooks have been published during the last twent years.

60. A.S. Hartkamp, Compendium van het vermogensrecht volgens het Nieuwe Burgerlijk Wetboek, Deventer 1977.

61. H.C.F. Schoordijk, Het algemeen gedeelte van het verbintenissenrecht naar het Nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek, Deventer 1979.

62. C.J. van Zeben and J.W. du Pon, in co-operation with M.M. Olthof, Parlementaire geschiedenis van het Nieuwe Burgerlijk Wetboek, boeken 3, 5 en 6, Deventer 1981 (Three volumes).

63. M.M. Olthof en J.W. du Pon, Studenteneditie parlementaire geschiedenis NBW boeken 3, 5 en 6, Deventer 1982.

64. See Van Zeben-Seesink, o.c.(footnote 4 supra).