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Heirbaut, Dirk --- "Unification and codification in today’s European private law and 19th-century Germany: the challenges and opportunities of comparing historical and ongoing events" [2019] ELECD 22; in Moréteau, Olivier; Masferrer, Aniceto; Modéer, A. Kjell (eds), "Comparative Legal History" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 416

Book Title: Comparative Legal History

Editor(s): Moréteau, Olivier; Masferrer, Aniceto; Modéer, A. Kjell

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781781955215

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: Unification and codification in today’s European private law and 19th-century Germany: the challenges and opportunities of comparing historical and ongoing events

Author(s): Heirbaut, Dirk

Number of pages: 16

Abstract/Description:

This chapter compares the unification and codification of private law in 19th-century Germany with current events in Europe in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities of a common code of private law for Europe. The similarities between 19th-century Germany and today’s Europe are generally that they are both ‘functional’, determined by the common goal of unification and codification, whereas the contrasts are contextual, having their roots in legal, economic, political and cultural differences. The lack of synchronicity not only leads to differences in context, but also makes it more difficult to find the matching moment for a comparison. This, however, also opens up more possibilities. If for one element of the comparison no parallel exists at one moment, it may arise at another, thus resulting in a more complex, yet also richer comparison. Last but not least, the comparison between historical and ongoing events also offers opportunities, as it makes us look at the past with new eyes, bringing forward elements which we had hitherto ignored.