Codification was predominantly regarded as a radical reform in form and substance and ‘reform’ is one of the core features of continental European codification that Weiss has identified. The element of ‘reform’ is concerned with 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.
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 (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.
How many countries have ‘Codes’ as a basic legal source in the world? In how many countries' legal systems does 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 percent of known legal systems, each consisting of an average of 6 codes. This figure suggests that codification has become prevalent in most existing legal systems.
ሕግና ኅብረተሰብ ጠንካራ ቁርኝት አላቸው፡፡ ኅብረተሰብ በሌለበት ሕግን ማሰብ፣ ሕግ በሌለበት በሥርዓት የሚኖር ኅብረተሰብን ማሰብ አስቸጋሪ ነው፡፡ ይህ ግንኙነት አንዳንድ ጊዜ በመቀዳደም ሊፈጸም ይችላል፡፡ ሕግ ኅብረተሰብን ዘመናዊ ለማድረግና ለመለወጥ እንደ መሳሪያነት ሊያገለግል ይችላል፡፡ በእንዲህ ዓይነት ጊዜ የሕጉ ዓላማ ኅብረተሰቡ ያልደረሰበትን ለውጥ ማስገኘት ነው፡፡ በተቃራኒው ከኅብረተሰቡ የሚወጡ እሴቶችና ባህሎችን ወደ ሕግ ደረጃ በማሳደግም የኅብረተሰቡን ሕልውና ማስቀጠል ይቻላል፡፡ እነዚህ የተሳሰሩ ግንኙነቶች ኅብረተሰቡ ከሕግ መጠቀም የሚቻልበትን ሁኔታ የሚያሰፋ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ ውጭ በሆነ መልኩ ሕጉ ከኅብረተሰቡ ዕድገት ወደ ጓላ ከቀረ ሕጉ ከወረቀት ያለፈ ተፈጻሚነት አይኖረውም፡፡ ይህን ችግር በአገራችን የተወሰኑ ሕግጋት እናስተውለዋለን፡፡
ስም ሰዎችን ለመለየት የምንጠቀምበት ሁነኛ ዘዴ ነው፡፡ ይህም አንድን ሰው ከሌላ ሰው ለመለየት ለሰዎቹ ስያሜ በመስጠት በቀላሉ መለየት ይቻላል፡፡ የአገራችን ሕገ መንግሥት በአንቀጽ 36 (1) (ለ) ስምን የመሰየም የሁሉም ህጻናት መብት ነው ሲል ያትታል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ICCPR አንቀጽ 24 (2) እንደሚደነግገው ሁሉም ህጻናት እንደተወለዱ ወዲያውኑ እንዲመዘገቡ እና ስም እንዲወጣላቸው ያዛል፡፡
A principal-agent relationship is like a tripartite contract where the agent enters into any legal transaction on behalf of the principal. Art 2199 of the Civil Code defines agency as “a contract whereby a person, the agent, agrees with another person, the principal, to represent him and perform on his behalf one or several legally binding acts.” Such an authority can be conferred by court or by agreement of the parties.
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.
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.
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.