Civil Code of Russia

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation is the primary source of Russian civil law, tracing its lineage through Roman law and the Byzantine legal tradition, shaped by German and Dutch legal norms during the 18th and 19th centuries and by Soviet law and continental European influence since the 1990s. It was signed in 1994 and commenced on January 1, 1995, coming into force in four separate parts over more than a decade, Part 1 in 1995, Part 2 in 1996, Part 3 in 2002 and Part 4 in 2008. Part 1 sets out general provisions, ownership and basic obligations law, Part 2 covers specific types of obligations, Part 3 covers succession and international private law, and Part 4 covers intellectual property rights. Unlike most European civil codes, Russia's Civil Code does not cover family law, which is governed by separate legislation.