1992 · Civil codes

Dutch New Civil Code

Netherlands

A modern civil code, written over decades, that replaced the code of 1838. It covers property, obligations and contracts in a modern structure.

Why it matters

It became a model for new civil codes in several countries after 1990, including Lithuania and Russia.

Built on

1804

French Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)

France

replaced an older code that had been modelled on the French one

1896 (in force 1900)

German Civil Code (BGB)

Germany

took ideas from German law

Went on to shape

1994 to 2006

Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Russia

Dutch experts helped, and the Dutch code was a model

2000 (in force 2001)

Civil Code of Lithuania

Lithuania

took the structure and many ideas from the Dutch code

Countries in the Legal Families Atlas

Netherlands

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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.