The Czech Civil Code: From Effectiveness To Amendment In 17 Months?

1. Recodification of the Czech civil law

With effect from 1 January 2014, the entire Czech civil law has been re-enacted by Act No. 89/2012 Coll., the civil code (the "Civil Code"), along with Act No. 90/2012 Coll., the business corporation act (the "Business Corporation Act"), and other legislation.

A long time in the making, the new Civil Code replaced the old civil code from 1964 along with the commercial code from 1991 (which, unlike the Business Corporation Act, also contained special provisions on contract law) and a large amount of other legislation. The old civil code had been amended by more than 60 acts, the commercial code by more than 70 acts. Thanks to these patches and with the help of court decisions and jurisprudence, the old civil law managed to adapt to dramatically different social circumstances. Nevertheless, there still had been a call for a new modern code.