Civil Code of Argentina

The Civil Code of Argentina was the legal code in force in Argentina between 1871 and 2015, forming the foundation of the country's system of civil law. It was written by Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield as the culmination of a series of attempts to codify Argentine civil law; the original code was approved on 25 September 1869 by the passage of Law 340 and became active on 1 January 1871, and with numerous subsequent modifications it remained the foundation of Argentine civil law for more than a century, until it was replaced on 1 August 2015 by a new Civil and Commercial Code. Velez Sarsfield's code reflected the influence of continental law and the liberal principles of the 17th century, drawing on the Napoleonic Code, the Spanish laws then in effect in Argentina, Roman law as mediated through the work of Savigny, canon law, the draft Brazilian civil code by Freitas, and the Chilean Civil Code of Andres Bello; its approval gave a new coherence and unity to Argentine civil law, replacing inconsistent provincial legislation.