Abstract
The codification of Civil Law in Venezuela is an ongoing process dating back to the first half of the nineteenth century. However, the first Venezuelan Civil Code was only passed in the second half on that century. The main structure of the Civil Code, amended as of 1982, remains very much the same as the earlier codes. However, a significant process of decodification has taken place particularly on family law matters. Obligations, contracts, torts, property, wills and estates continue to be subject to the Civil Code. Commercial laws are mostly reunited in the Commercial Code, although significant parts thereof are now governed by special legislation. Private International Law is codified in a special law, but the Civil Code still contains some scattered provisions on the matter. True to its origins, the Venezuelan Civil Code continues to be the main pillar of Private Law legislation. All Private Law still revolves around the provisions of the Civil Code; it constitutes the glue that keeps the unity of the system of Venezuelan Private Law legislation.
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- 1.
Published in Special Official Gazette 2,990 of 26 July 1982.
- 2.
See: Alfredo de Jesús O., Notas generales sobre el bicentenario del Código Civil y el proceso de codificación, descodificación y eventual recodificación de su Derecho civil, in El Código Civil venezolano en los inicios del siglo XXI: en conmemoración del bicentenario del Código Civil fránces de 1804, ed. Irene de Valera, (Caracas: Academia de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales; Embajada de Francia en Venezuela; Asociación Franco Venezolana de Juristas, 2005), p. 32.
- 3.
María Luisa Morillo, “The evolution of codification in the civil law legal systems: towards decodification and recodification”, Journal of Transnational Law & Policy, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (Fall 2001), p. 173.
- 4.
José Luis Aguilar Gorrondona, “Derecho Civil I. Personas”, (Caracas, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Manuales de Derecho, 18th. edition., 2005), pp. 20–24.
- 5.
Published in Special Official Gazette 475 of 21 December 1955.
- 6.
Law on the Insurance Contract, published in Special Official Gazette 5,553 of 12 November 2001 and Law on the Insurance Activity, published in Special Official Gazette 5,990 of 29 July 2010.
- 7.
Currently regulated in the Law on Maritime Trade, published in Official Gazette 38,351 of 5 January 2006.
- 8.
Published in Official Gazette 39,447 of 16 June 2010.
- 9.
Published in Official Gazette 37,285 of 18 September 2001.
- 10.
Published in Special Official Gazette 496 of 17 August 1956.
- 11.
Published in Official Gazette 39,358 of 1 February 2010.
- 12.
Published in Official Gazette 36,860 of 30 December 1999.
- 13.
Published in Special Official Gazette 5,859 of 10 December 2007.
- 14.
Published in Official Gazette 39,264 of 15 September 2009.
- 15.
Published in Official Gazette 36,511 of 6 August 1998.
- 16.
Published in Special Official Gazette 6,076 of 7 May 2012.
- 17.
See Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Chamber, decision of 17 October 2011, Leopoldo López case, denying effect to a decision of the Inter American Court on Human Rights.
- 18.
See Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Chamber, decision of 24 January 2002, ASODEVIPRILARA et al. v. Superintendencia de Bancos y otras Instituciones Financieras (SUDEBAN) and Consejo Directivo del Instituto para la Defensa y Educación del Consumidor y el Usuario (INDECU) case.
- 19.
See Teodoro de Jesús Colasante Segovia case of 20 March 2006.
- 20.
See Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Chamber, decision of 4 March 2005, IMEL case.
- 21.
See Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Chamber, decision of 14 May 2004, Transportes Saet case.
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Hernández-Bretón, E., Martínez, C.M. (2013). Codification in Venezuela. In: Rivera, J. (eds) The Scope and Structure of Civil Codes. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 32. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7942-6_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7942-6_21
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