Introduction

The following pages explain why private law was codified in the territory which we know today as Quebec, and how and why the task of recodification was approached over one hundred years later. Quebec's experience is interesting because, on the one hand, it was successful and it is contemporary, and, on the other hand, because the political and social situation of Quebec is similar to that of Catalonia, and therefore it can serve us as a model of comparative law. Both nations have acknowledged competence in civil law matters, but neither of them has full competence (artt. 92.12 and 13 of the British North American Act, and art. 149.1.8 of the Spanish constitution (CE)).

An analysis should allow one to discuss the feasibility of the codification technique, which Catalonia has also chosen recently, and debate how a modern codification should be approached. Basically, should the law that we now have and know be consolidated? Or should we break with the previous law? But before answering these questions, it may perhaps be convenient to ask ourselves about the suitability of civil codes as instruments for modernising law.

In Quebec, codification was successfully handled on two separate occasions, the last in 1994. The code symbolises a different culture and society in North America, dominated for the most part by Common Law which, historically, has tended to phagocytise the droit civil.