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On circumstances favoring codification
Damaska, Mirjan
Damaska, Mirjan
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Abstract
The term "code", as it is generally used, may denote any of a broad spectrum of legal texts. Our focus, here, is more narrow: we are concerned only with those written works that embrace a system of principles and rules applicable to a given area of the law. l These codes are essentially directive: the interaction of their principles and rules is expected to describe the solution to most problems that can arise within the area they regulate, at least in the sense of providing starting points for analysis and argument. This inspiration to inclusiveness results in a relatively high level of abstraction; rather than trying to provide in detail for every foreseeable situation, such codes tend, by marking out lines of inquiry, to suggest contours of the solution. And practical application calls for further elaboration, on coneretisation of their provisions.