The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) in the version as from 2 January 2002 is the very backbone of German civil law. Its institutions and principles are essential for the understanding of the law of Europe’s major legal systems.
The two volumes, comprising over 3500 pages, constitute a full and comprehensive English language commentary of all five books of the BGB: General Part of the BGB, the Law of Obligations, and the Law of Property (Volume I), Family Law and the Law of Succession (Volume II).
The commentary of each article is headed by the version of the article at the time of publication (Volume 1: 2020; Volume 2: 2022) both in the German original and an English translation followed by a clearly and uniformly structured analysis of the provision. Focus is laid on the understanding of the purpose and meaning of the provision in the context of the code and the correct use of the terminology both in German and English. As the mean-ing of the BGB does not always follow from the wording of its pro-visions, especially if translated into another language, further explana-tion is absolutely essential. Facing this challenge, the commentary meets the expectations both of German and foreign lawyers by providing the correct terminology and explanation in English to lawyers and translators and by offering a systematic overview on the BGB to lawyers who are not very familiar with German civil law.
The commentaries in Volume I reflect the law on 31 December 2018, whereas subsequent changes in legislation were incorporated until 31 December 2019. The commentaries in Volume II reflect the law in July 2021, whereas subsequent changes in legislation were incorporated until 1 July 2022.
