Many attempts at codification were short-lived, not helped by constantly changing governments and political conditions.
In 1531, Charles V, the ruler of the Netherlands, ordered the codification of existing laws with a view towards uniformity.
However, the Eighty Years War and the end of Spanish rule in the Netherlands interrupted such plans.
[2]: 229 On 24 May 1806 the Netherlands became a French client state, styled the Kingdom of Holland under Napoleon's brother, Louis Bonaparte.
[2]: 229–230 Roman-Dutch law was abolished except where specifically retained by the Code and in the Dutch colonies.
On 1 January 1811, the Netherlands was annexed by the French Empire and the Napoleonic Code was adopted in unmodified form.
Meijer points to the removal of civil death, a concept which was wholly foreign to Dutch society.
The BW is influenced by the Code Civil, but this does not justify the view that the Netherlands adopted French law.
We find a large part of the Code is based on joint roots, and that the most important common background is Roman law.
In 1947, the Dutch government tasked Eduard Meijers with completely revising the Code.
The driving force was technical recodification; it was argued that the Code should be updated to reflect recent developments of private law.
[6]: 40–1 Despite the initial scope of revision being ‘technical reform’, the 1992 BW enacted substantive modifications to both the prior Code and established case law.
The Code now covers all aspects of commercial regulation—company, insurance, transport, consumer, and labour laws.
212), as are rescissory actions for vitiated consent or an ‘abuse of circumstances’ (Book 6, art.
More generally, requirements of good faith now appear to be a constant theme throughout the Code: Book 6, art.
[6]: 41 The Code also loosens the legal positivism of the French system in favour of granting courts wider discretion in adjudicating cases.