Page:Civil code of Japan compared with French (1902-04-01).pdf/6

Rh The Japanese Code of 1890 was arranged under the five heads mentioned in Lecture I. The draft Civil Code of New York contains four divisions: — I, Persons; II, Property; III, Obligations; IV, General Provisions relating to persons, property, and obligations.

We have made a wide departure from, these precedents in the arrangement of our new Code. In Book I (General Provisions), are found Persons, Artificial or Juridical Persons, Things, Legal or Juristic Acts, Periods of Time and Prescription. In Book II (Rights ), are found Possession, Ownership, Superficies, Emphyteusis, Easements, Possessory Liens, Preferential Rights (i.e. equitable liens), Pledges and Mortgages. In Book III (Rights ), are treated: 1st, General Provisions applicable to rights which include the subject of rights, the effect of rights , the rights  in which many parties are concerned, the assignment and the extinction of rights ; 2nd, Contracts, under which head are general provisions applicable to contract, donation, sale, exchange, loans for consumption, loans for use, letting and hiring, hire of labour and services, contracts for execution of specified work, agency or mandate, deposit, association, life-annuities, and amicable arrangement; 3rd, Management of Business; 4th, Improper Profits or Unjust Enrichment; and 5th, Wrongful Acts (i.e.  according to Roman law). Book IV (Family Relations), contains the following headings: 1st, General Provisions; 2nd, The Head and Members of a Family; 3rd, Marriage and Divorce; 4th, Parents and Children; 5th, Parental Rights; 6th, Guardianship; 7th, Family Councils; and, 8th, The Duty of Support. In Book V (Succession), are found: 1st, Succession to the Headship of a Family; 2nd, Succession to Property; 3rd, Acceptance and Renunciation of Succession; 4th, Separation of Property; 5th, Failure of Heirs; 6th, Wills; and, 7th, The Heir’s Portions.

This arrangement finds its analogy in the Saxon and the German Civil Code, with the difference that in the latter Rights make the subject matter of Book II while Rights  are dealt with in Book III.

It should be here noted that in the Roman Law, and the French Code fashioned after it, the laws relating to persons occupy the first and most important part of the Code, while in the Japanese Code they are placed in the fourth Book following the laws relating to property and obligations. This new distribution can not be said to be wholly without reason. In the earlier societies rights were deter-