ДВА ВЕКА АУСТРИЈСКОГ ГРАЂАНСКОГ ЗАКОНИКА (1811–2011)
TWO CENTURIES OF THE AUSTRIAN CIVIL CODE (1811–2011)

Summary/Abstract: Austrian civil code (Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – АBGB, ACC) succeeded in resisting the challenges of time for two centuries. A number of factors influenced it’s longevity. First of all, prior to adoption of the law, a long lasting and well designed work, which has been described in greater detail in this article, was done. The Code was written gradually, with lots of recalculations, checks and public debates. In legal literature, it is often written about a unique lawmaking experiment, which Austrian authorities made by implementing the Code in one part of the state territory. The Code was written for feudal order, but according to principles of natural law. This second thing has, in addition to widely formulated and flexible legal norms, left enough space for extensive interpretation of outdated rules, and filling in the legal lacunas, whose number was increasing as the time passed. Courts often used this opportunity in a creative manner, contributing to survival of the Code. Many additions and changes were made to the Code, but there were few of those who thought that it should be changed by a new one Code. Austrians are preparing a more detailed revision of the ACC, which will allow modernization of the national law and it’s synchronization with trends in current European law, but on the other hand, to preserve the two century old legal heritage. The second part of this article is dedicated to the influence of the Austrian Civil Code on the development of civil law in the former Yugoslavia and Serbia. ACC served as model for adoption of the Serbian Civil Code of 1844. It was applied as a positive law in the first half of XX century, in one part of the territory of today’s Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. Formally, legal rules of the Austrian Civil Code can even be applied today, according to the Law on Nullity of Legal Regulations Enacted Prior to 6th of April 1941, and During the Enemy Occupation. However, that possibility is more theoretical than practical, and is limited only to a narrow field inside the property law, because in other fields, Serbia has an equally proper, and in domain of obligation law, even a more modern legal regulative, which was mentioned by some Austrian authors.

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