Swiss Civil Code
The 1907 civil code drafted by Eugen Huber, admired for its clarity and copied by Turkey
Overview
Drafted largely by the jurist Eugen Huber and adopted in 1907, the Swiss Civil Code took effect in 1912 together with a revised Code of Obligations, unifying private law across the cantons. Published in German, French, and Italian with equal authority, it was written in plain language for ordinary citizens rather than specialists. Its first article famously instructs judges, where the code and custom are silent, to decide according to the rule they would make if they were the legislator. In 1926 the new Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal adopted a translation of the code almost wholesale, replacing religious family law and making Swiss law a model for modernization.
Related Topics
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon's commission distilled revolutionary ideals, equality before the law, property, secular civil status, and contract freedo...
German Civil Code
Drafted over two decades by pandectist scholars, the BGB took effect in 1900 as an abstract, five book architecture from general r...
Civil Law System
The civil law family, heir to Justinian's compilation as filtered through Napoleon and the German pandectists, organizes law into ...
Inquisitorial System
In the inquisitorial tradition descending from canon law, the court, often through an investigating judge, assembles the dossier, ...