The Polish Code of Obligations of 1933

doi:10.1628/978-3-16-200504-5

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The Polish Code of Obligations of 1933

Historical Roots and Comparative Context

Edited by Tomasz Giaro

2026. 530 pages.

forthcoming in September 2026

Materialien zum ausländischen und internationalen Privatrecht (MatIPR)

DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-200504-5

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978-3-16-200504-5

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Summary

In 1938, Henri Mazeaud lauded the 1933 Polish Code of Obligations as the best foundation for a future European private law. Although the Polish Code largely followed foreign models, transmitting those influences into the Polish Civil Code of 1964, it merits more attention in comparative law than it has thus far received.

The 1933 Polish Code of Obligations was the only comprehensive private-law codification enacted in East Central Europe during the interwar period, with the sole exception of the Latvian Civil Code of 1937. The present volume compares the Polish achievement with the Austrian, German, French, and Russian codes that remained at that time in force in Poland, as well as with the Swiss Code of Obligations of 1911 and the Franco-Italian Draft Code of 1927. The central question addressed is whether the Polish codifiers, under the leadership of Roman Longchamps de Berier, merely borrowed Western solutions or succeeded also in developing original contributions of their own.
As a short-lived piece of legislation, entering into force in July 1934 and effectively becoming a dead letter five years later with the outbreak of the Second World War, the Polish Code of Obligations has remained largely unknown among comparative legal scholars. In the post-war period, Soviet communism profoundly reshaped Polish civil law. Despite its practical obsolescence, the Code of Obligations formally remained in force until the entry into force of the Polish Civil Code of 1964 - the codification of »actually existing« state socialism.
The volume is divided into three parts: Inspirations, Institutions, and Receptions. The first examines the influence of foreign legal systems on the codification process. The second analyses the distinctive legal institutions introduced by the 1933 Code of Obligations. The third traces the influence of the Polish Code in East Central Europe during the interwar period. The book concludes with a General Outlook which explores the broader significance of the Code of Obligations within the history of Polish private law.

Table of contents:

Tomasz Giaro: Introduction
Part I. Inspirations
Adam Moniuszko, Piotr Pomianowski: A Broken Bond. Traditions of Old Polish Law in the 19th and 20th Centuries - Wojciech Dajczak: The French Code civil and the Search for a Uniform, Modern Law of Obligations for Poland - Rafał Wojciechowski: The Austrian ABGB and the Polish Code of Obligations - Wojciech Wydmański: The Impact of the German BGB on the Polish Code of Obligations - Jarosław Turłukowski: The Influence of Russian Law and Codification Processes on the Formation of the Polish Code of Obligations - Aleksander Grebieniow: Swiss Inspirations in the Polish Code of Obligations - Katarzyna Kryla-Cudna: The Influence of the Franco-Italian Draft Code of Obligations on the Polish Kodeks zobowiązań - Jan Rudnicki: The Men Behind the Polish Code of Obligations
Part II. Institutions
Bogusław Lackoroński: The rebus sic stantibus Clause and the Polish Code of Obligations - Ernest Bodura: Terms and Conditions of Contracts in the Polish Code of Obligations - Piotr Ratusznik: Kodeks zobowiązań and Polish Conception of the Strict Liability General Clause - Sandra Hadrowicz: Comparative Origins of Polish Regulations Concerning Forms of Compensation for Damage - Michał Tutaj: Contract of Mandate in the Polish Code of Obligations - Witold Borysiak: Historical Roots and Comparative Inspirations of the General Tort Clause in the Polish Law of Obligations - Karolina Panfil: Termination for Breach of Contract in the Polish Code of Obligations. The Background and the Future - Bogna Kaczorowska: Contract Interpretation and Supplementation. Regulatory Foundations and Guiding Sources - Krzysztof Riedl: Games and Bets. A Comparative and Historical View on the Enforceability of Gambling Contracts - Bartłomiej Woźniak: Assignment in the Polish Code of Obligations. A Historical and Comparative Perspective - Marvin Jakob Hell: On the Surrender of the lucrum ex negotiatione. A Comparative Analysis of the Influences upon the Polish Code of Obligations
Part III. Receptions
Václav Dvorský: The Influence of the Polish Code of Obligations on Czechoslovakia - Hesi Siimets-Gross/Marju Luts-Sootak: Models for the Law of Obligations of the Estonian Draft Civil Code 1936-1940 -Radosveta Vassileva: Yosif Fadenhecht and the Bulgarian-Polish Intellectual Exchanges during the Interwar Period - Andreja Katančević: Belgrade Echoes of the Polish Code of Obligations
Part IV. General outlook
Tomasz Giaro: Phoenix from the Ashes. The Code of Obligations and Some Archaeology of Polish Private Law - Aleksander Grebieniow: Appendix. The Code of Obligations of 1933 (Polish text and English translation)