Civil Code of Egypt in English Information
The Egyptian Civil Code, enacted as Law No. 131 of 1948, is the foundational statute of private law in Egypt and one of the most influential legal texts in the Arab world. Drafted under the direction of the jurist Abd El-Razzak El-Sanhuri, it synthesises French civil-law structure, Islamic juristic doctrine, and pre-existing Egyptian legal practice. The code has served as a model for subsequent civil codes adopted across the region, including those of Syria, Libya, Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan.
The code is organised into a preliminary part dealing with sources of law and conflicts, followed by books on obligations in general, contracts and other juristic acts, real rights over property, and the various nominate contracts. It governs the formation and effects of contracts, civil liability, property and possession, security interests, and the principal commercial contracts when not displaced by the Commercial Code. For broader Egyptian legislation see Egypt laws in English.
Table of Contents
Laws and Rights
The Application of Laws - Conflicts of Law as to Time
Conflicts of Law as to Place
Individuals
Juristic persons
Associations
Articles 54-80 have been repealed by Presidential Decree.
Classification of Things and Property
Elements of Contracts - Consent
Object
Consideration
Nullity
The Effects of a Contract
Dissolution of Contract
Liability Arising from Personal Acts
Liability Arising from the Acts of Another
Liability Arising from Things
Payment not Due
Voluntary Agency
The Law
The Effects of Obligations
Specific Performance
Compensation in Lieu of Performance
Any agreement contrary to the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs is void
Means of Realizing and Securing the Rights of Creditors
Means of Realizing the Rights of Creditors
One of the Means of Security: the Right of Retention
Insolvency
Conditional Obligations
Time Clauses
Alternative Obligations
Facultative Obligations
Joint and Several Obligations
Indivisibility
The Assignment of a Right
Assignment of Debt
The Two Parties to Payment
Means of Payment
Methods of Extinction of the Obligation Equivalent to Performance Giving in Payment
Novation and Delegation
Compensation (set off)
Merger
Release of the Obligation
Impossibility of Performance
Extinctive Prescription
Proof of Obligations
Sale in General - Elements of Sale
Obligations of the Vendor
Obligation of the Purchaser
Different Forms of Sale - Sale with a Right of Redemption
Sale of a Thing Belonging to Another
Sale of Litigious Rights
Sale of an Inheritance
Sale Made During a Person's Last Illness
Sale by a Representative to Himself
Exchange
Elements of a Gift
The Effects of a Gift
Revocation of Gifts
Partnership
Elements of the Contract of Partnership
The Management of Partnership
The Effects of Partnership
Ways in Which a Partnership Comes to an End
Liquidation and Partition of the Partnership Property
...............................................................................
Obligations of the Pledgor
Obligations of the Pledgee
As Regards Third Parties
Extinguishment of a Pledge
Pledge of an Immovable (Antichresis)
Pledge of a Movable
Pledge of Debts
General Provisions
Kinds of Privileges
Special Privileges over Immovables