Assises du Code civil: What reforms to modernize the Civil Code?
This second session was devoted to reform priorities and to bringing together Luxembourg law experts, as well as eminent French and Belgian jurists.
The speakers examined the main themes of the Civil Code and debated on which areas of civil law should be reformed and in what order these reforms should take place.
During the first part of the day, a strong demand crystallized for a modernization of the law of obligations. The speakers pleaded for a reform of the general regime of obligations, as well as for a reform of the law of contractual nullities. The structure of this part of the Civil Code will have to be improved to make the law of obligations more accessible to citizens.
The second round table was reserved for reforms to be undertaken in the law of persons. While inheritance law requires in the eyes of stakeholders only small adaptations of a system that has shown its worth, the legislation on the protection of adults will have to be the subject of an in-depth reform in a more important place to the administration of the person of the protected adult. Parentage law is currently being reformed and will have to take into account the societal changes taken into account in recent years.
The last round table of the session focused on the modernization of property law, including traditional property law, construction law and co-ownership law.
Pascal Ancel, professor emeritus of the University of Luxembourg, summarized the debates of the day.
In his closing, Sam Tanson underlined the importance of the reform and thanked the people who contributed to the foundations of the Civil Code for their involvement. The Minister of Justice stressed that “the results of the fruitful discussions if we were able to attend today will be taken into account in the framework of the long-term work to come”.
Sam Tanson also commented on the follow-up to the Assises du Code civil: “Specialized working groups, addressing well-defined reform themes, must be set up under the initiative and in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice”.
Montesquieu said that “it is sometimes necessary to change certain laws, but the case is rare, and when it happens, it should only be touched with a trembling hand “.
The debates of the second session of the Assises showed that more than two hundred years later, this analysis is no longer true as far as Luxembourg is concerned. The Minister of Justice rightly noted “that we need a firm and courageous way to achieve a lasting reform of the Civil Code”.
Communicated by the Ministry of Justice