Topoi verdeckter Rechtsfortbildungen im Zivilrecht

Nowadays it is generally agreed that the development of the law is one of the legitimate functions of court rulings in civil law. The change of paradigms in the theory of determining the law does not however have an equivalent in the reasons given for court rulings. Although the civil courts do develop the law, in doing so they regularly use traditional reasons for their rulings which give the impression that they are merely interpreting and applying the laws. Christian Fischer studies these topoi of hidden legal developments in an overview from the perspective of the law of civil procedure and legal methodology. After analyzing the concept of legal development, the author uses the history of court rulings and the judicial decisions of the highest civil courts to show the continuing practical significance of hidden development of the law.