Professor Calixto Salomão Filho from the University of São Paulo Law School in Brazil and Professor Marco Fioravanti from the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy gave a lecture on the Global Perspectives on the New Civil Code to the students at the invitation of the College on Haidian Campus on the morning of 26 June.
The session was chaired by Professor Fei Anling of the College, with lecturers Yang Ziran and Xu Jianbo serving as discussants. Professors Riccardo Cardilli, Roberta Marini and Massimiliano Vinci from the University of Rome Tor Vergata also attended the lecture.
The lecture began with Filho presenting on the drafting experience of the Brazilian Civil Code, systematically analysing three key innovative paths. First, in institutional design, the Code creatively integrates commercial law concepts by introducing the principle of the social function of contracts (Article 421) and strengthening the concrete application of the principle of good faith (Article 422), thereby achieving a balance between private autonomy and public interest. Second, in corporate law, it breaks from traditional theoretical constraints by adopting 'organisational character' as a new standard instead of the traditional profit requirement (Article 966), creating legal space for non-profit organisations to engage in market activities. Third, in structural design, it respects the need for autonomy in specialised areas, coordinating overall unity with sectoral specificity through flexible mechanisms such as the 'new market' and dedicated standards for environmental liability.
Fioravanti then delivered a talk on the Revolution and Codification: Property Concepts in the Early Napoleonic Code. He noted that the 1804 Napoleonic Code established a social and legal model centred on private property, whose intellectual roots can be traced to the Jacobin phase of the French Revolution. According to Fioravanti, between the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the 1804 Civil Code, the so-called "intermediate law period" saw revolutionary legislators blend Roman law traditions with the French customary system, aiming to construct legal unity. Thinkers such as Cournand emphasised the link between property rights and basic human needs, proposing gradual land redistribution. However, these demands received only limited acknowledgement in the Napoleonic Code. Fioravanti argued that this process reveals the inherent contradictions of modern legislative projects.
Following the keynote speeches, Xu and Yang shared reflections on codification models and tort liability regimes in common law systems in response to the speakers' presentations.
In closing, Fei thanked the speakers, discussants and all attendees, expressing hope to invite the professors for further academic exchanges at CUPL in the future. The lecture concluded successfully.
