法国民法典 (1804)

《法国民法典》（法语：Code civil des Français）又称《拿破仑法典》（法语：Code Napoléon），是法国民法的法源中最重要的一部法律。1804年的《法国民法典》曾名为《拿破仑法典》，但1870年以后，一直称之为《民法典》。

法典的制定

该法典是根据法国政治家拿破仑的命令，由特龙谢、马尔维尔、普雷阿默纳及波塔利斯四位法学家起草，拿破仑本人亦有亲自参与讨论和审议。于1804年3月21日正式公布，后人又称之为《拿破仑法典》。

法典的体系与原则

体系

法国民法典采用“查士丁尼《法学阶梯》”的结构体系，除序章外，有3编2,281条。三编的名称分别为：

财产及所有权的各种形态

所有权取得的各种方式

基本原则

一切事务依循法律；

民事主体平等；

私有财产神圣不可侵犯；

契约自由；

过失责任。

法典的特色

该法典基于个人主义和自由平等的思想，为近代民法典的典范。其核心为所有权之绝对性、契约自由及过失责任三项原则。但随着19世纪末到20世纪经济社会的发展变化，该法典的原理也受判例和学说大幅修正，并予以部分改正及制定相应之特别法。

影响

法国民法典与1896年颁布之《德国民法典》是欧陆法系的两大支柱和源流。对后世的《日本民法典》、中华民国的《民法》、《中华人民共和国民法典》等很多欧陆法系国家的民法立法影响巨大。

The Napoleonic Code (French: Code Napoléon), officially the Civil Code of the French (French: Code civil des Français; simply referred to as Code civil), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since its inception. Although Napoleon himself was not directly involved in the drafting of the Code, as it was drafted by a commission of four eminent jurists, he chaired many of the commission's plenary sessions, and his support was crucial to its enactment.

The code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a major milestone in the abolition of the previous patchwork of feudal laws. Historian Robert Holtman regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.

The Napoleonic Code was not the first legal code to be established in a European country with a civil-law legal system; it was preceded by the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus civilis (Bavaria, 1756), the Allgemeines Landrecht (Prussia, 1794), and the West Galician Code (Galicia, then part of Austria, 1797). It was, however, the first modern legal code to be adopted with a pan-European scope, and it strongly influenced the law of many of the countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic Code influenced developing countries outside Europe attempting to modernize and defeudalize their countries through legal reforms, such as those in the Middle East, while in Latin America the Spanish and Portuguese had established their own versions of the civil code.

History

The categories of the Napoleonic Code were not drawn from earlier French law, but instead from Justinian's sixth-century codification of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis, and within it, the Institutes. The Institutes divide into the law of:

persons things actions.

Similarly, the Napoleonic Code divided the law into four sections:

persons property acquisition of property civil procedure (moved into a separate code in 1806).

Prior codification attempts

Before the Napoleonic Code, France did not have a single set of laws; law consisted mainly of local customs, sometimes officially compiled in "custumals" (coutumes), notably the Custom of Paris. There were also exemptions, privileges, and special charters granted by kings or other feudal lords. With the Revolution, the last vestiges of feudalism were abolished.

Specifically, as to civil law, the many different bodies of law used in different parts of France were to be replaced by a single legal code. The Constituent Assembly on 5 October 1790 voted for a codification of French laws, the Constitution of 1791 promised one, and the National Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution on 4 September 1791 providing that "there shall be a code of civil laws common for the entire realm." However, it was the National Convention in 1793 which established a special commission headed by Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès to oversee the drafting process.

His drafts of 1793 (for which Cambacérès had been given a one month deadline), 1794, and 1796 were all rejected by a National Convention and the French Directory of the time was more preoccupied with the turmoil resulting from various wars and strife with other European powers. The first draft contained 719 articles and was very revolutionary, but was rejected for being too technical and criticized for not being radical or philosophical enough. The second, with only 297 articles, was rejected for being too brief and was criticized for being a mere manual of morals. The third, expanded to 1,104 articles, was presented under the conservative Directory regime, but never even came up for discussion.