The Law of Obligations and The Structure of Swedish Statute Law

The law of obligations is a concept that is traditionally associated with civil law.1 In the German Civil Code of 1896, the Law of Obligations (Schuldrecht) constitutes the second of the five Books, while the first Book contains the General Part (Allgemeiner Teil) and the third Book deals with the Law of Property (Sachenrecht). The systematics is derived from the treatises of the Pandektenrecht of the 19th century.2 It still plays an important part not only in legislation but also in German legal literature and in the teaching of law. For a foreigner, it seems a bit surprising that there are numerous treatises on the general and the special law of obligations (Schuldrecht, Allgemeiner Teil and Schuldrecht, Besonderer Teil) but comparatively few books on contracts or torts. Both a law of contract and a law of tort can be discerned in German law, but to find them it is often necessary to consult several parts of the Code and of the treatises that deal with the law of obligations. The notion of a law of obligations is on the whole foreign to the common law, and an attempt to state English law in its terms appears not to have had any considerable influence.3 For Sweden the present situation cannot be understood unless the historical development is realized, and the following survey will therefore be disposed chronologically. In Sweden, like the other Nordic countries, the original situation was hardly more favourable than in England for establishing a law of obligations. Sweden has its Code of 1734, which at least as far as appears on the surface retains the structure of the medieval Codes. It is still nominally in force, in spite of the fact that practically all important parts have been replaced by new legislation. It was remarked by a legal scientist at the beginning of the 20th century that the