European Civil Law

Common principles and regulations which governs the choice of law in the European Union

General Part Law of Obligations: general rules Contracts Non contractual obligations Family Law Law of Succession Property law About us



Warning: a European civil code is not yet a reality; however, while that does not happen, we expose a set of rules within the European Union to govern choice of law in civil and commercial matters


General Part

General provisions     Civil-law Rights     DCFR: common principles     Public documents    



Ignorantia juris non excusat or gnorantia legis neminem excusat


The ignorance of the law does not serve as an excuse, because once it has been published, everyone should know it.






Interpretation of Law

The main interpretation methods are:

  • Purposive (or teleological): considering the aim and the purpose of the law (Latin: ratio legis), as it appears from legislative history, or other observations;

  • Systematic (or contextual): considering the context of the legal rule;

  • Grammatical (or linguistic): using the literal meaning of the legal text.