1896 (in force 1900) · Civil codes
German Civil Code (BGB)
Germany
A precise, abstract code built on the German scholarship of Roman law. Its famous 'general part' sets out rules that apply across the whole code.
Why it matters
It is the second great model of the civil-law world, copied or adapted in Japan, Greece, Brazil, Thailand, Taiwan, Georgia and elsewhere.
Built on
Went on to shape
1896 to 1898
Japanese Civil Code
Japan
the final code followed the German draft's structure
1907 (in force 1912)
Swiss Civil Code (and Code of Obligations)
Switzerland
drew on German scholarship while keeping a plainer style
1925 to 1935
Thai Civil and Commercial Code
Thailand
borrowed from the German code
1929 to 1931
Civil Code of the Republic of China
China (now in force in Taiwan)
followed its structure and general part
1940 (in force 1946)
Greek Civil Code
Greece
closely modelled on the German code
1942
Italian Civil Code of 1942
Italy
took ideas from German law
1966
Portuguese Civil Code
Portugal
took the German code's structure and technique
1992
Dutch New Civil Code
Netherlands
took ideas from German law
1994 to 2006
Civil Code of the Russian Federation
Russia
took ideas from German law
1997
Civil Code of Georgia
Georgia
closely modelled on the German code
2002
Brazilian Civil Code
Brazil
followed the German structure, as the 1916 code had
Counting texts that borrowed from the texts that borrowed from this one, 13 later texts on this timeline trace back to it.
Countries in the Legal Families Atlas
TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.
