478 HARVARD LAW REVIEW In Belgium the Code Napoleon is law, so that the situation is the same as in France. The Belgian writers agree with the French that a marriage celebrated contrary to the implied prohibition of the Code would be vaHd.^^ Under the modern law of Italy marriage by proxy is prohibited except with respect to the King and members of the royal family .^^ A marriage cannot be celebrated in Germany by proxy since the law of February 6, 1875, section 52 of that law requiring the per- sonal presence of both parties.^^ A reservation is made in favor of the ruhng families and the princely House of HohenzoUem.^^ The present Civil Code made no change in the law.^° In Austria the parties may marry by proxy with the consent of the government.^^ The person with whom the marriage is to take place must be mentioned in the power of attorney. A marriage celebrated without "such special power of attorney" is void. Some of the Austrian writers maintain that the word "such" does not refer to the governmental consent and that the absence of such consent does not render the marriage invalid .^^ Whether the power of attorney must be in writing is doubtful.^ ^ Encyclop£die de Droit Civil Belge, i Code Civil, Art. 36, No. i, Art. 75, No. 6; 2 Laurent, supra, No. 427; i Thiry, Ccturs de Droit Civil, No. 265. " See FoscmNi, I Mottvi del Codice Civile del Regno d'Italia, 171; i Bor- SARI, COMMENTAraO DE CODICE [CIVILE ItALIANO, § 254; I CaTTANEO, II CoDICE Civile Italiano Annotato, 82. 2* Reichsgesetzblatt, 187s, 23. So formerly in Prussia, A. L. R. Pt. 2, Tit. i, § 167; 3 Dernburg, Preussisches Prtvatrecht, 4 ed., 37. 2' § 72 of above law. The same reservation is contained in Arts. 32, 46, Intro- ductory Law, Civil Code. ^° A motion made before the second Code Commission to allow marriage by proxy when the bridegroom was in a non-European state was rejected. The need of such an exception did not appear sufficiently great, especially in view of the fact that since the law of May 4, 1870, Germans may marry abroad before a diplomatic or consular oflBcer. 5 Protokolle, $1 et seq.; 2 Endemann,Lehrbuch des burgerlichen Rechts, 8 and 9 ed., Pt. 2, 83; 4 Planck, BtJRGERLiCHES Gesetzbuch, 3 ed., 4; 4 Staudinger, Kommentae zum burgerlichen Gesetzbuche, 7 and 8 ed., 66. '^ Article 76, Civil Code. The consent will be given only if sufficient reasons appear. I Nippel, Erlauterxtng des allgemeinen burgerlichen Gesetzbuchs der Oester- KEICHISCHEN MONARCHIE, 336. ^ I DOLLINER, HaNDBUCH DES IN OeSTERREICH GELTENDEN EhERECHTS, 308, 311-12; 5 Stalin, Zeitschrift fur Kirchenrecht, 158; i Stubenrauch, Com- IIENTAR ZUM OeSTERREICHISCHEN ALLGEMEINEN BURGERLICHEN GeSETZBUCHE, 7 ed., 178. Contra, v. Kirchstetter, Commentar zum Oesterreichischen allgemeinen BtiRGERLiCHEN Gesetzbuche, s ed., 88. ^ I Stubenrauch, supra, 77.
