# The Civil Code of Québec — book-by-book map

Structure and article ranges verified against the **official consolidated text** on [LégisQuébec](https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/ccq-1991) (English content, retrieved **2026-07**). The Code runs **art. 1 → art. 3168** across **ten Books**, preceded by a **Preliminary Provision**.

## The Preliminary Provision

The Code opens by defining its own role: it governs persons, relations between persons, and property, **in harmony with the Charter of human rights and freedoms and the general principles of law**; it lays down the *jus commune* — **the general law of Québec** — expressly or by implication, and is **the foundation of all other laws**, though other laws may complement or make exceptions to it.

That last clause is the one to internalize: the CCQ is the **default background law**. When a specific statute (the *Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal*, consumer-protection law, employment law) is silent, the Code fills the gap.

## The ten Books

| Book | Subject | Articles | What lives here |
|---|---|---|---|
| **One** | **Persons** | 1–364 | Legal personality; **enjoyment and exercise of civil rights**; personality rights (integrity, reputation, privacy); name; domicile; absence; **capacity** (minors, tutorship, protective supervision, mandates in anticipation of incapacity); **legal persons** (their constitution, powers, dissolution). |
| **Two** | **The Family** | 365–612 | **Marriage** and civil union; nullity; **separation, divorce, dissolution**; effects of marriage (family residence, **family patrimony**, matrimonial regimes); **filiation** (blood, assisted procreation, adoption); **obligation of support**; **parental authority**. |
| **Three** | **Successions** | 613–898 | Opening of successions; qualities to inherit; **legal devolution** (intestacy); **wills** (forms, capacity, revocation); **liquidation** (the liquidator, the inventory, payment of debts and legacies); **partition**. |
| **Four** | **Property** | 898.1–1370 | Kinds of property (**movable/immovable**, corporeal/incorporeal); **ownership**; **superficies**; **co-ownership** (incl. **divided co-ownership** — condominiums, the syndicate, the declaration); **usufruct**, use, servitudes, emphyteusis; **trusts**; **administration of the property of others**. Opens at **art. 898.1: "Animals are not things. They are sentient beings and have biological needs."** |
| **Five** | **Obligations** | 1371–2643 | **The biggest Book.** *Title One — Obligations in general*: **contract formation** (offer/acceptance, consent, defects of consent, cause, object), **civil liability** (fault, the custodian of a thing, liability for others), performance, **extinction**, transfer. *Title Two — **Nominate contracts***: sale, gift, **lease (arts 1851–1978.4)**, affreightment, carriage, **contract of employment**, contract of enterprise or for services, mandate, partnership and association, deposit, loan, suretyship, annuities, **insurance**, gaming, transaction, arbitration agreement. |
| **Six** | **Prior Claims and Hypothecs** | 2644–2802 | The **common pledge of creditors**; **prior claims**; **hypothecs** (movable/immovable, conventional and legal), their effects, **hypothecary rights and recourses**, extinction. |
| **Seven** | **Evidence** | 2803–2874.1 | **Burden of proof**; presumptions; **means of proof** (writings — authentic, semi-authentic, private; **technology-based documents**; testimony; **admissions**; presumptions of fact); **admissibility** (the rule against contradicting a writing; hearsay). |
| **Eight** | **Prescription** | 2875–2933 | **Acquisitive prescription** (acquiring by possession) and **extinctive prescription** (losing a right by inaction) — including the general **3-year** limitation for personal actions and the **10-year** rule for enforcing judgments; suspension and interruption. |
| **Nine** | **Publication of Rights** | 2934–3075.1 | The **land register** and the **register of personal and movable real rights (RDPRM)**; what must be published; **effects of publication** (setting-up against third persons, ranking); **immatriculation** of immovables; cancellation. |
| **Ten** | **Private International Law** | 3076–3168 | **Conflict of laws** (status, obligations, property, procedure); **international jurisdiction of Québec authorities**; **recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions**. |

## Navigating a Book

Books descend: **Book → Title → Chapter → Section → Division → Subsection (§)**. So the lease of a dwelling is:

> **Book Five** (Obligations) → **Title Two** (Nominate Contracts) → **Chapter Four** (Lease) → **Division IV** (Special Rules for Leases of Dwellings) → **§ 1–§ 9**, arts **1892–1978.4**.

Divisions and subsections matter for scope: art. **1893** voids clauses inconsistent with "**this section**" — the reference is to the dwelling division, so you have to know which division you're standing in.

## Reading an article on LégisQuébec

Each article shows its text followed by its **legislative history**: `1991, c. 64, a. 1854` (the enacting statute and article), then any amendments (`; 2002, c. 19, s. 15`) and integration notes (`; I.N. 2014-05-01`). A **decimal number** (1978.1, 898.1, 2874.1) means the article was **inserted by amendment** after the original 1991 enactment — a useful tell that a rule is newer than the Code itself.

Toggle the **FR/EN** content: both versions are **official and equally authoritative** — Quebec statutes are enacted in both languages. Where they seem to diverge, that's a real interpretive question, not a translation slip.

## Common cross-Book chains

Real problems rarely sit in one Book. Some frequent chains:

- **A residential lease dispute** → Book Five (lease, arts 1851–1978) + Book Eight (prescription — is the claim time-barred?) + Book Seven (evidence — who must prove what) + the *Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal* (the forum).
- **A neighbour/nuisance problem** → Book Four (ownership, art. 976 on normal neighbourhood annoyances) + Book Five (civil liability, art. 1457).
- **Buying a house** → Book Five (sale, warranty of quality) + Book Four (ownership, co-ownership) + Book Nine (publication — registering the deed).
- **A death** → Book Three (successions) + Book Two (family patrimony) + Book Four (property).
- **A contract gone wrong** → Book Five Title One (formation, defects of consent, remedies) + Book Seven (proving it) + Book Eight (deadline to sue).

## What the Code is *not*

It isn't all of Quebec law. Alongside it sit the **Charter of human rights and freedoms** (quasi-constitutional, and it prevails — the Preliminary Provision says the Code operates in harmony with it), the **Code of Civil Procedure** (how you litigate, as opposed to what your rights are), and a large body of **specific statutes** (consumer protection, the TAL Act, labour standards) that complement or derogate from the Code. Where a specific statute and the Code conflict, the specific statute generally governs its field; the Code fills everything else.