The Private International Law Rules of Moldavia in the First Half of the 19th Century (Norme de Drept Internaţional Privat in Moldova, in prima jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea) (Romanian)

Abstract:     
The Moldavian choice-of-law rules were provided by the Civil Code of the Principality of Moldavia (the Code Calimach), enforced on October 1, 1817). Summarizing the provisions of paragraphs 2, 5, 6, 45, 46, 396 and 2009 of the Code Calimach, we discover the following choice-of-law rules:
A. The Code Calimach governed all the inhabitants of Moldavia, whether they were Moldavians or foreigners;
B. The Moldavian citizen’s legal capacity was governed by the Moldavian law even abroad, while the foreigner’s legal capacity to conclude juridical acts on Moldavian soil, was subjected to the Moldavian law;
C. The juridical acts concluded abroad by a Moldavian citizen were governed, in their substance, by the Moldavian law and in their form, by the law of the state where the act was concluded;
D. The juridical acts concluded on the territory of Moldavia were subjected to the Moldavian law, both in their substance and in their form;
E. The Code Calimach granted to a foreign creditor the same rights over a Moldavian bankrupt debtor which were granted by the foreigner’s national law to a Moldavian creditor in the same situation;
F. Immovables were governed by the law of the place where they were situated, while the movables were subjected to the owner’s personal law (which was always the Moldavian law as long as the owner was on Moldavian soil).

According to paragraph 45 of the Code Calimach, foreigners had the same civil rights as Moldavians, with the exclusion of those rights for which the Moldavian law required either the Moldavian citizenship or the attribute of Orthodox Christian (or both conditions).

These provisions of the Code Calimach were abolished on December 1, 1865, when the Romanian Civil Code was enforced.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: conflict of laws, choice-of-law rules, Moldavia, 19th century, Private International Law, legal history, Code Calimach

JEL Classification: K11, K12, K19, K20, K33, K39

Accepted Paper Series