Civil Code of Argentina - Precursors

Precursors

The codification in Argentina was part of a process being undertaken around the world, due to the advantages that such a systematic approach granted. Indeed, there had been earlier codifications; those completed toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century had a strong influence on the compilation of the Civil Code of Argentina. Stemming from these, there were separate attempts at civil codification in the Argentine republic during the first half of the 19th century, but it was finally achieved in 1869.

The unification of the country and its political growth and strengthening demanded the codification of the civil laws, since it was not possible to continue under the uncertainty caused by the inadequate code that existed under the rule of the Spanish.

Before the Civil Code, there had been several attempts to this effect, without success. In 1824, Juan Gregorio de las Heras issued a decree appointing one commission charged with compiling the Commercial Code and another charged with compiling the Military Code, but neither of these two projects' efforts came to fruition. In 1831, the Legislature of Buenos Aires adopted the Spanish Commercial Code compiled in 1829 and created a commission to see to any reforms to it that might be necessary. In 1852, Justo José de Urquiza created a commission of 14 members for the compilation of the Civil, Penal, Commercial and Procedural Codes. However, the revolution of September 11 of that year, which resulted in the secession of the Province of Buenos Aires from the Argentine Confederacy, prevented this project from making any concrete progress.

The Argentine Constitution of 1853, in clause 11 of article 67, authorized the Argentine National Congress to draw up the Civil, Commercial, Penal and Mining Codes. With the intent of fulfilling this constitutional mandate, Facundo Zuviría brought before the Senate a law that would empower the Executive Branch to appoint a commission to complete those tasks. The law was passed and signed by Urquiza, but for financial reasons the initiative was postponed.

In the State of Buenos Aires, an initiative to launch a Civil Code suffered the same fate. On October 17, 1857, a law was passed that authorized the Executive Branch to spend the necessary funds to compile the Civil, Criminal and Procedural Codes, but the initiative was ultimately frustrated. However, the Commercial Code had better luck. The task of compiling that code had been given to Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield and Eduardo Acevedo, who sent it to the legislature for its approval. The Commercial Code of the State of Buenos Aires was finally passed in 1859, and it was this code that was adopted at the national level in 1862 and amended in 1889.