PORTUGUESE CIVIL CODE, 1867

Adv. Dr. F. E. Noronha shares an insight on the book which also has a foreword by Justice Mahesh S. Sonak

Noted jurist Advocate F. E. Noronha has made available the draft Civil Code for consideration of the people of the country.

Civil Code is not personal or family law alone, though it certainly includes these. It is the systematisation and ordering of all relations between citizens.

Dr. F. E. Noronha is enthusiastically convinced that the Goa model of the civil code can serve as a model for India. He observes that the substantive principles of the Code are practised by and are known to all the people of Goa, even the less educated. Dr. Noronha observes that the Portuguese Civil Code and other laws are an important functional and operative part of the Goan heritage because they are deeply ingrained into the minds and hearts of Goan people like the Konkani language, folklore, food and habits.

A practising lawyer from Panaji, Adv. Dr. F. E. Noronha holds a Ph.D. in Law from University of Pune. He has authored a book on Private International Law and several books on Civil Law, including the Official Translation of the Portuguese Civil Code, 1867 and Portuguese Code of Civil Procedure, 1939 for the Goa Government.

Dr. Noronha was faculty teaching Jurisprudence for LL.M. students for 15 years and has been invited several times to Lisbon University as well as various law schools and universities in India and various symposia and seminars.

Portuguese Civil Code, 1867 has been in force in Goa since 1870, for the last 150 years, the Code has been not just an icon of Goan identity but also a positive instrument of social order. It is not only uniform as vainly aspired by the rest of the country, but it is also a systematic organization of law in a style which is elegant in philosophical, linguistic and legal terms.

The Code was not translated since 1961 and Dr. Noronha was the first to translate it in its full form in 2016, the present book, being its second edition.

The Code, besides a preliminary title, covers Obligations (Contract), Property, Possession, Marriage, Children, Divorce, Guardianship, Unsoundness of Mind and other disabilities, Succession, Civil Wrongs (Torts) and Enforcement/ Remedies for substantive rights, and runs into 2538 articles.

Ill-advisedly a part of it has been truncated into a separate Act instead of re-codifying and updating the vintage statute.

“The Code has been always accepted and peacefully followed by all sections of Goans and even by non-Goans who are settled in Goa. Like the natural sceneries, the welcoming and amiable Goan people, the inimitable Goan lifestyle, this Code is subconsciously and sometimes consciously the force behind the grace and tranquility of Goan society.

Its charming feature is that its provisions are known to the entire native Goan population, even though they never read them in their original Portuguese language. For example, a fully illiterate tribal from the remote interiors of Goa knows that when a son or daughter is born, he has to go and register the birth; when he gets married he has to first go to the registration office along with his bride. If he wants to sell something, he has to take his wife along because she has half right in it. He also knows that when he dies, his sons and daughters will get equal shares without distinction. He knows the he cannot sell his share in property without the signatures of his brothers and sisters. He knows that in respect of property of his deceased parents and ancestors, he has to file Inventory Proceedings in the Court.

He also knows that he can make a Will or Gift to one son or daughter only to the extent of 50% of his half share. When he makes a Will, he has to do it along with his wife.

As we know in other places, births and marriages were not registered, properties could be sold without the wife’s consent. Some heirs were barred from inheritance and anybody could sell his share in property without bothering about his co-owners. In other places, Wills are made at home and people struggle for a so called probate which may come when the beneficiary is dead. You can make a Will alone and dispose anything anyhow,” expresses Dr. Noronha.

The above comparison shows why the Portuguese Civil Code has brought in a personal legal discipline in every Goan individual, couple and family leading to an orderly, law abiding society.

The need of the hour is for a complete updating of the Portuguese Civil Code including in it all laws in the civil area

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