A codification should be a system, not just a collection of rules. The New Dutch Civil Code makes a serious effort in this direction. The system and the ideas behind it are consistent with the Unidroit Principles for International Commercial Contracts and the Principles of European Contract Law. The Code puts a lot of emphasis on reasonableness and equity (good faith and fair dealing). In the eyes of many this endangers the predictability of the rules. It is submitted that this view is wrong. Equity is not a vague concept linked to the ideas of an average citizen. Equity is part of the system. In private law there is no equity outside the system. At the same time — and this is more important — it takes the law back to the people the system is supposed to serve.
European Review of Private Law