Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch

The BGB served as a template in several other civil law jurisdictions, including Japan, Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan), Thailand, Brazil, Greece, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine.

A second committee of 22 members, comprising not only jurists but also representatives of financial interests and of the various ideological currents of the time, compiled a second draft.

Therefore, the political need to draft a completely new code to match the Nazis' expectations subsided, and instead the many flexible doctrines and principles of the BGB were re-interpreted to meet the (legal) spirit of that time.

Especially through the good faith doctrine in § 242 BGB (see above) or the contra bonos mores doctrine in § 138 BGB (sittenwidriges Rechtsgeschäft), voiding transactions perceived as being contra bonos mores, i.e. against public policy or morals, the Nazis and their willing judges and lawyers were able to direct the law in a way to serve their nationalist ideology.

For example, aspects of tenancy legislation, which had been transferred to separate laws such as the Miethöhegesetz ("Rental Rate Act") are once again covered by the BGB.

Lawmakers and legal practice have improved the system over the years to adapt the BGB in this respect with more or less success.

Derived from the works of the pandectist scholar Friedrich Carl von Savigny, the Code draws a sharp distinction between obligationary agreements (BGB, Book 2), which create enforceable obligations, and "real" or alienation agreements (BGB, Book 3), which transfer property rights.

The Chilean Civil Code, which came into force on 1 January 1857, also makes this differentiation between the titles and the actual acquisition of property, similarly to the Roman Law.

In day-to-day business, this differentiation is not needed, because both types of contract would be formed simultaneously by exchanging the property for payment of money.

Although the abstract system can be seen as overly technical and contradicting the usual common-sense interpretation of commercial transactions, it is undisputed among the German legal community.

Under the abstract system, the BGB has a simple answer: the sales contract obligates the buyer to pay the full price and requires the seller to transfer property upon receipt of the last installment.

As the sale obligations and the actual conveyance of ownership are embodied in two separate agreements, it is quite simple to secure both parties' interests.