Turkmenistan Civil Code of Saparmurat Turkmenbashi

by William E. Butler (Editor)

This volume contains the Turkmenistan Civil Code as adopted in December 1998. The translation by William E. Butler is based on the official text and any differences with the Russian language version are noted in footnote annotations. The Turkmenistan Civil Code is unique in the CIS for incorporating as part of its official title the name of the President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Turkmenbashi. This gives the Civil Code a special symbolic value in the hierarchy of sources of Turkmenistan Law. Another important feature of the Civil Code is its lack of a section devoted to private international law, or `conflicts of law'. Until this position is rectified or clarified, Turkmenistan law is the sole applicable law.

458 pages, Hardcover

First published December 23, 1999

About the author

William Elliott Butler, LL.D. (University of London, 1979; Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, 1970; LL.M., School of Law of the Academy University of Law, Institute of State and Law, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1997; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1966) is the John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor of Law, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University (2005–); Professorial Research Associate, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (2006–); and Emeritus Professor of Comparative Law in the University of London (2005–). He is an authority on the legal systems of Russia, other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Mongolia.

Professor Butler previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Laws, University College London (1977–79) and of the University of London (1988–90). He is a member of The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, The Union of Russian Jurists, The Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law, and The American Law Institute, among others. He also was the Founding Editor of The Bookplate Journal, being an avid collector and beekeeper.