Comments on the Motives Codifying the Meiji Civil Code (Part 3. Obligations : Contract for Work)

This article contains the full translation of reform motives of the Meiji Civil Code(the part of obligations), which are based on the texts edited by Hironaka Toshio, Minpo syusean (zensanpan) no ryusyo(Yuhikaku, 1987), and adds some comments from the viewpoints of the Korean lawyer, whose legislation has been widely influenced by the European legal tradition via the Japanese legal scholarship. From the review, the author concludes that the Meiji civil Code was drafted when the Japanese nation was only just beginning to industrialize, for the interpretation and application of which to current issues more sweats as well as contemplation are required to avoid irrational results, especially in the case of huge, complex and incertain construction claims; that the law of the contract for work in the Meiji Civil Code seems more close to the German model, regarding (1)that it moved from the contract of labour to the sale. (2)that the price of work needs not be determined in advance, (3)and that repair plays a crucial role in the remedies for defects, bur such the progressive legislation was actually by no means common in the beginning 20th century, so that this part of the Meiji Code Civil deserves an original codification