"The Structure and Legal System of Civil Law in Contemporary Islamic Societies"(Sungoo Myung & Hyunsoo Kim, Anam Law Review, Vol. 67, November 2023, pp. 155–209)

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【Abstract】

Islamic societies make up approximately one-quarter of the world’s population and nations. Particularly, the Middle East plays a pivotal role not only as a global energy supplier but also as a key actor in transitioning toward a low-carbon future beyond oil. South Korea has recently been actively seeking exchange and cooperation with countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A prerequisite for sustainable exchange and cooperation is a deep understanding of counterparts, and legal systems lie at the core of such understanding.

This study focuses on civil law, the fundamental norm in the private domain. Due to complex international dynamics, Korea has long failed to view the Islamic world—especially the Middle East—from an independent and subject-oriented perspective. Amid the general lack of legal scholarship on Islamic societies, this paper provides a legal perspective on the structure and legal lineage of the civil codes of three key Middle Eastern countries: Türkiye, Egypt, and Iran.

To do so, the study first classifies global legal systems into "core" and "derived" families, and distinguishes between "Islamic law" and "law of Islamic societies", clarifying their relationship. The modernization of civil law in Islamic societies began either as part of colonial policies or as state-led legal reforms, through which advanced legal systems were comprehensively and systematically adopted. As a result, these countries’ civil codes now belong to the Roman law tradition, explaining why their legal systems are not entirely unfamiliar to Koreans.

Türkiye, which attempted to integrate Islamic law with modern Western law during the Ottoman period through the Mecelle, enacted a civil code in 1926 modeled after Swiss law, part of the Germanic legal family. The Turkish Civil Code had significant influence on many subsequent Middle Eastern legal systems.

Egypt belongs to the French legal family, and its 1948 Civil Code—drafted with active participation from legal scholars, including French jurists—is known for its systematic structure and legal completeness. This has made Egypt’s Civil Code highly influential throughout much of the Middle East and Africa, where French-based legal systems now dominate.

Iran’s 1928 Civil Code is seen as less systematic and more heavily influenced by Islamic law, particularly because Iran is the leading country of Shia Islam, a minority sect in the Islamic world. This, in part, explains why Iran’s civil code has not been widely adopted elsewhere in the Islamic world.

This study is a macro-level comparative legal study, regionally limited to major Middle Eastern countries. It is hoped that this will serve as a foundation for more micro-level studies on specific topics and for expanding the range of countries analyzed. One key principle emphasized here is the importance of separating religion and scholarship when studying the law of Islamic societies.

【Table of Contents】

Ⅰ. Introduction

Ⅱ. Islamic Law, the Law of Islamic Societies, and Roman Law

Ⅲ. Legal System Typology and the Root Legal Families of Civil Law in Islamic Societies

Ⅳ. Turkish Civil Code

Ⅴ. Egyptian Civil Code

Ⅵ. Iranian Civil Code

Ⅶ. Conclusion

#CivilLawInIslamicSocieties#TurkishCivilCode#EgyptianCivilCode#IranianCivilCode#Sanhuri (refers to Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, the principal drafter of the Egyptian Civil Code)#OttomanMecelle (also known as Mejelle or Majalla, the Ottoman civil code)#MecelleOfTurkey#GenealogyOfCivilLaw