Acceso usuarios
Para Montesquieu, las leyes civiles son aquellas que regulan las relaciones de los ciudadanos entre sí, a fin de garantizar el mantenimiento y la unidad de la comunidad política. Portalis, en cambio, pretende que esta misma función de cemento cívico la desempeñe un Código civil que se ocupa únicamente de esa esfera privada en la que los individuos disfrutan de su propiedad. Benjamin Constant asume este cambio y lo lleva un paso más allá, identificando el mencionado disfrute privado con la verdadera libertad de los tiempos modernos.
The purpose of this paper is to explain the change in meaning of the civil sphere in the Napoleonic Code. To this end, I focus on the introductory speech given by Portalis at the presentation of the 1801 project, and I compare his conception with Montesquieu’s. For the latter, civil laws are those regulating citizens’ relations with each other, in order to guarantee the maintenance and unity of the political community. Portalis, by contrast, intends to have this civic engagement function performed by a Civil Code that deals solely with that private sphere in which individuals enjoy their property. As I show in the conclusion, Benjamin Constant will assume this change and take it one step further, identifying the aforementioned private enjoyment with the true liberty of modern times.
