General
Up until 1st July 2002, the Netherlands held the position of having the most modern Civil Code in Europe. On 1st July 2002 the last ingredients of the Civil Code in Estonia entered into force – the General Principles of Civil Code Act ("GPCCA") and the Law on Obligations Act ("LOA"). The Civil Code of Estonia consists of 5 parts all grouped in different acts: general principles, property law, obligation law, inheritance law and family law. In this article we are going to touch upon the general principles and obligations law.
Freedom of contract
The most basic amendment to the principles in force until the enforcement of the LOA is the adoption of freedom of contract principle. So far Estonia acted on the basis of Civil Code that was in force also during the Soviet times when there was little private property. Under the old Civil Code basic rule was that the parties could not agree otherwise if the law provided regulations for that kind of civil relationships. Since 1991
