Politics of Codification: The Lower Canadian Civil Code of 1866Young interprets codification as part of a larger process that included the collapse of the Lower Canadian rebellions, the decline of seigneurialism, expansion of bourgeois democracy in central Canada, professionalization of the bar, and formation of the institutional state. Central to codification was a profound ideological shift in Lower Canadian society that gave priority to exchange and individual property rights. Young examines the evolution of codification from its nationalist origins in the 1820s and 1830s into a Civil Code that was integral to Confederation and became a flagship of bilingualism in Quebec. The formation of the commission, the work of the codifiers, and the reaction of the anglophone minority and the Roman Catholic hierarchy are considered, as is the Code's meticulous blending of a conservative social vision with the principles of freedom of property. The Politics of Codification will be of great interest to students of law, members of the legal professions, and Canadian social and legal historians. |
Contents
1 The Legal Landscape | 3 |
2 Attitudes to Codification before the Rebellions | 18 |
3 The Political Will to Codify 183857 | 43 |
4 The Codifiers | 66 |
5 Politics of the Codification Commission 185766 | 99 |
6 The Commission at Work | 121 |
Married Women as Traders | 141 |
The Law of Obligations | 157 |
9 Conclusion | 173 |
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Politics of Codification: The Lower Canadian Civil Code of 1866 Brian Young No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
AFG5 anglophone ASSH Attorney Augustin-Norbert Morin authority Bas-Canada bench Bibaud Brierley British capitalist Caron Cartier Catholic Charles Dewey Day Civil Code Civil law Civil Law Codification code civil Code of Lower codification Codification Commission Collection Morin commercial law commissioners Court Custom of Paris customary law Day's Denis-Benjamin Viger Doucet draft élite emphasized established example feudal français France francophone freedom of contract George-Étienne Cartier husband Ibid ideology important institutions judges jurisprudence Jurist Kolish LaFontaine land law faculty law of Obligations law reform lawyers legal system Legislative Assembly Lower Canada Lower Canada Reports Lower Canadian Civil marriage married women McGill University merchant Napoleonic Code nationalist notarial Notes générales Ordinance Papineau particularly political Pothier principles Quebec City Quebec's Civil Law Railway Ramsay rebellions registry relations Roman law Saint-Hyacinthe secretary seigneurial tenure Séminaire Sewell social society Statutes of Canada tion titles Torrance and Morris Townships tradition Vict wife