German Civil Code: Article-by-Article Commentary Volume I

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.

This article-by-article commentary covers books 1 to 3 of the code, i. e. General Part, Law of Obligations, Law of Things. The commentary provides a consolidated version of the BGB

The commentary of each article is headed by the current version of the article 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 meaning of the provision in the context of the code and the proper use of the terminology both in German and English. As the meaning of the BGB does not always follow from the wording of its provisions, especially if translated into another language, they need further explanation. Taking into account the origin of the BGB in 19th century Germany and the difficulties inherent in any legal translation, the proper use of terminology is the real challenge of the commentary. Facing this challenge, the commentary meets the expectations both of German and foreign lawyers by providing the proper 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 the German civil law.

The commentaries reflect the law on 31 December 2018, whereas subsequent changes in legislation were incorporated until 31 December 2019.