Civilinio kodekso problema Lietuvoje 1918-1940 metais ir jos sprendimo paieškos

Abstract

After Lithuania has been re-established in 1918 there were three civil legal systems remaining in the small territory. These were the Code of Russian Imperial Law, Tome X, Part 1, the amended French Civil Code of 1804 and the Civil Laws of the Baltic Provinces. Besides, another legal system based on German Imperial Laws remained valid in the area of Klaipeda that had been regained in 1923. The variety of legal systems has resulted from unfortunate historical circumstances and from the enforced legal systems of foreign conquerors. It was acknowledged that the Russian legal system was outdated, whereas the civil law was not in general suitable for Lithuanian environment and did not reflect the features of the location. The intensive activities of the legislative institutions of Lithuania after it had gained its independence over years resulted in a great volume of legal material. However, since it consisted of separate laws it was not sufficient to successfully implement the formation of unified national law. Obviously, the most effective means to unifying Lithuanian law would have been the creation of own legal codes. The legal ministers of re-established Lithuania have many times declared their concern for defeating the particularity of civil law. The question for codification of law has been raised in government layers from 1919. In 1922 a special draft law was prepared to codify and translate the Russian and Lithuanian laws. This task has been delegated to the Council of Minister of Justice established in 1924. Results in the area of codification were expected from the Commission of Legal Councils of the Ministries that was active during 1920-1928. All these efforts, unfortunately, appeared to be insufficient and did not give results.