Codification was predominantly regarded as a radical reform in form and substance and ‘reform’ is one of the core feature of continental European codification that Weiss has identified. The element of ‘reform’ is concerned whether or not codification changes the form and substance of existing laws. By examining the five historical codifications, Weiss demonstrates that codification is always a combination of change in form and change in substance. While some authors consider reform in substance as a decisive element of codification and others regard codification…

Codification has often been the means of realizing unification within a particular country and Weiss identified national legal unification as a core feature of continental European codification. Codification often served to attain legal and political unity with previously heterogeneous legal sources. This was particularly true in the nineteenth century, when codification became linked to the emergence of modem nation states. Weiss explained that the technical legal unification by means of codification often came hand in hand with political unification. Nevertheless, codification was not limited only…

SIMPLICITY Simplicity is the last core feature of continental European codification that Weiss has identified. While the element of a gap-less code was addressed to the judiciary, and the systematic element spoke to legal scholars, the element of simplicity is referred to the citizen. Simplicity does not refer only to the technicality of drafting laws. It also raises an important political question – to whom is a codification addressed? The idea of simplicity has always been a goal of good law and it can be…

SYSTEM System is commonly regarded as the main characteristics of modern codification and Weiss has identified ‘system’ as a third core feature of continental European codification. The goal of capturing the substance of the law in the form of comprehensive and systematic code is one actively pursued in different countries. A code collects and regulates different fields of law into one organized system. Codification is not meant to be a compilation of texts where many different sources of law were intermingled. Rather it is a…

COMPLETENESS A historical and comparative study of continental European codification reveals that codification aims at being complete. Although ‘completeness’ has several implications in different literature Weiss has identified three sub-elements of completeness in the sense of an (a) exclusive, gap-less and comprehensive as the second core feature of continental European codification. In this article each of these elements will be briefly discussed followed by the analysis of the Ethiopian civil code. 1. EXCLUSIVENESS Weiss has identified ‘exclusiveness’ as a sub-element of completeness in the sense…

How many countries have ‘Codes’ as a basic legal source in the world? In how many countries legal systems the term ‘Codification’ exist? Are there common features of codification used as a basis for comparison and analysis? Although the exact number of codes is uncertain today, the UNESCO-sponsored survey on the basic sources of various legal systems in 1957 reveals that from 110 countries 73 countries had legal sources called ‘codes’ and the work of ‘codification’. In other words, codification exists in 67 per cent…

Modernization relies on law as the means of transformation. In these great processes of transformation, day after day, many more demands for new legislation have been proposed as a reaction to different social, political, economic and environmental situations which seemingly develop independently or deliberately. Governments need effective laws to govern these processes of transformation, by which they achieve their political objectives and public policies. Such need may originate from different sources such as different ministries, a commission of inquiry, politicians, pressure groups, or sometimes from…

Introduction It has often been considered that every addition of a new law in a statute book is amending a prior existing law. As a result, analyzing legislative proposal both in its relation and in its effect with rights and privileges under existing and established law continues to be an important subset of Legislative Drafting. A person engaged in analyzing the legislative proposal should either be familiar with the existing relevant law or know where it can be found. Existing laws, among other things, constitute…