Kodifizierung vertraglicher Rechtsgeschäfte zwischen natürlichen Personen im V. Teil des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches von 1964 in der Tschechoslowakei. Allgemeine Definition, politischer und internationaler Kontext und konzeptionelle Fragen

Following the recent anniversary of the Czechoslovak Civil Code of 1964, this article contributes to the legal-historical and civil law scientific discourse on this legal regulation. The article is the first of two articles focusing on contractual obligations between natural persons. These obligations were intended to be supplementary to the services provided mainly by legal entities. It focuses primarily on codification work concerning contractual obligation law, its conceptualization, and the legal institution of civil assistance, all in the context of the preparation of the 1964 Civil Code, or rather in the context of the recodification of law in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc countries in the 1960s. The article also reflects specific cases and points out the similarities and specific features that distinguished the Civil Code of 1964 from a historical and international perspective. The article shows the extent to which the examined regulation of Part V of the Civil Code of 1964 was an expression of the political doctrine of the 1960s in the context of other innovations, or in relation to the traditional Marxist-Leninist doctrine. The article shows whether, and to what extent, similar to the later International Trade Code, it followed (or rather suffered from) traditional elements of obligations, albeit in a modified and truncated form and using the terminology of the time, in contrast to the rest of the 1964 Civil Code. The article highlights the differences between law in books and law in action. It therefore also addresses issues of continuity and discontinuity, autonomy of the parties’ free will, and the scope for judicial discretion with regard to the topic under examination. The article also reflects the finding that experience with the Civil Code of 1964 shows that the political utilitarianism of law does not necessarily limit its adaptability and functionality. On the contrary, even such regulations can be very adaptable to social and legal evolution. The most important general findings and insights from the research are clearly summarized in the conclusion. The article will be followed by another article by the same authors, which will focus on specific legal institutions of contractual law between natural persons according to the original wording of Part V of the Czechoslovak Civil Code of 1964.