COMMERCIAL JUDICIARY ON THE POLISH TERRITORIES IN THE 19TH CENTURY – A REPACKAGED FRENCH PRODUCT OR A MOCK-UP? - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2019v74p97

Résumé

The focus of this article is the analysis of the actual shape of implementation of one of the most characteristic solutions of the French legal system in the Polish territories of the 19th century, that is the separate commercial judiciary. Following the 1807 establishment of the French protectorate, Duchy of Warsaw, the new state adopted the French Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure and the Commercial Code. The judiciary was reorganized to imitate the French model, although with some significant divergences from the original. Thus, a number of foreign legal acts were cast ad hoc from post-revolutionary France into the Polish feudal reality. Along with them came not only new institutions, imposed with no time for their gradual development, but also a conceptual apparatus that had never before functioned in the Polish lands. The institution of commercial judiciary, which constitutes an inherent feature of the French system, has grown roots strong enough on the Polish territories to survive by a long time the obligations that resulted from the French protectorate. It is nonetheless important to analyze its evolution on the Polish territories, especially since Polish scholars have been avoiding a complex elaboration of this topic for over 200 years.

KEYWORDS: Commercial tribunals. Code de commerce. French legal system. Polish territories. 19th century. Implementation.