Condification

Condification The Development of the Codification Process As many commentators have pointed out, the Codification was a unique socio-historical phenomenon6 developed in the civil law tradition during the 19th century. The Codes drafted during this process differed radically from the compilations of the Roman, Canonic law, or other codes.7 The root of the Codification was the “intellectual revolution” that took place in Europe in the 18th century with its principles and doctrines based on the Enlightenment, Ius rationalism, secular Natural Law, Bourgeois liberalism, and Nationalism. These ideas produced a new way of thinking about society, law, economy, and state with decisive consequences for the civil and common law tradition. Thisdevelopment deeply influenced western nations, producing dramatic events, specifically, the American and French Revolution, the Italian Risorgimento, the wars of independence in Central and South America, and the unification of Germany, among others. In reference to civil law tradition countries, this philosophical and political phenomenon had a significant effect in the development of public and private law. In particular, Wieacker explained that: “the Codification was not focused on gathering, compiling, improving or reforming the existent scientific or prescientific law - as the former German reforms or Roman and Spanish compilations-, but planning a better society by means of new systematic and creative law.”9 In fact, the relation Civil Code/Constitution, with the primacy of the private law, law, french, civil, code, legal, codification, system, codes, revolution, german, private, principles, others, le, society, one, new, germany, unify, unification, tradition, thus, thibaut, tendency, simplicity, several, scientific, roman, rationalism, primacy, powers, political, people, modern, model