Kodeks cywilny kantonu Berna (1824–1830) i jego wpływ na przemiany społeczne i ustrojowe

The objective of this paper is to present the dynamics of events and dependencies, which resulted in the enactment of the Bernese Civil Code, as well as the importance and consequences of this work in the development of civil law and civil society in the canton of Bern. The paper addresses the issues concerning the question as to whether it is possible for an act of civil law to become a source of rules which, not finding sufficient protection in the existing constitutional system, cause changes in the latter. Did the codification of private law and the act of providing the ideas of freedom and equality with statutory protection result in the fall of the governance existing in Bern in the first half of the 19th century? Or was it perhaps the result of the accumulation of internal and external circumstances, leading to a formal sanctioning of systemic changes which had already occurred? The process of codification and systemic change in Bern constitutes an excellent example of the interdependence between private and publiclegal legislation and the fact that constitutional law does not always have to be the primary source of state protection covering basic social values.