LAW FIXING THE PERIOD AT WHICH THE COMMERCIAL CODE. SHALL COMMENCE ITS OBLIGATORY FORCE. (Enacted the 15th of September, 1807.) NAPOLEON, by the Grace of God and the constitutions, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, King of Italy, AND PROTECTOR OF THE CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE, to all present and to come, GREETING. THE LEGISLATIVE BODY, on the 15th of September, 1807, rendered the following decree, conformably to the proposition made in the name of the emperor, and after having heard the orators of the council of state and of the sections of the tribunate, on the same day. DECREE. Art. 1. The provisions of the commercial code shall be in force from the 1st of January, 1808. Art. 2. From the said date of the 1st of January, 1808, all the former laws concerning commercial matters, which are the subject of the present code, are repealed. Compared with the original, by us president and secretaries of the legislative body. Paris, the 15th of September, 1807. Signed FONTANES, President; J. V. DUMOLARD, MICHELETROCHEMONT, CHAPPUIS, MILSCENT, Secretaries. WE ORDER and command that these presents, invested with the seals of the state, inserted in the bulletin of the laws, be transmitted to the courts and tribunals of justice, and to the admi scrivent dans leurs registres, les observent et les fassent observer; et notre grand-juge ministre de la justice est chargé d'en surveiller la publication. Donné en notre palais impérial de Fontainebleau, le 25 Septembre, 1807. nistrative authorities, in order that they record them on their registers, observe them, and cause them to be observed; and our grand-judge minister of justice is charged to superintend their publication. Given in our imperial palace at Fontainbleau, the 25th of September, 1807. Attested by us Arch-Chancellor of the Empire, CAMBACERES. NOTES, REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE CODE. (1) Page 87. Emancipated minor. Filial emancipation prevailed in France before the revolution, under various modifications. See Dict. de Droit, par Ferrière. It was borrowed from the civil law. See Institutes, Lib. 1. Tit. 12. The Code Napoleon, Book I. Title X. Chap. III. contains several provisions on this subject. It declares that a minor is absolutely emancipated by marriage; that if not married, he may be emancipated by his parents, at the age of fifteen years, which is effected by a simple declaration made before a justice of the peace; that if he has neither father nor mother, he may be emancipated, at the age of eighteen years, by the family council. The minor, by emancipation, becomes entitled to the management of his estate, and may make leases for a term not exceeding nine years, receive his revenue, and do every other act which relates merely to the administration of his property; but he cannot prosecute or defend a real action, without the concurrence of his guardian; nor borrow money without the authorization of the family council, confirmed by the tribunal; nor sell or alienate his real estate, His personal obligations, if he be not engaged in commerce, may be reduced or annulled by the tribunals, whenever they are not beneficial to him, and it should appear that deception or fraud had |