Law No. 131 of 1948 promulgating the Civil Code.

The Egyptian Civil Code is the primary source of civil law for Egypt. The first version of Egyptian Civil Code was written in 1948 containing 1149 articles. The code focuses on the regulation of business and commerce, and does not include any provisions regarding family law. Article 1 of the code provides that, “in the absence of any applicable legislation, the judge shall decide according to the custom and failing the custom, according to the principles of Islamic Law. In the absence of these principles, the judge shall have recourse to natural law and the rules of equity.”
The Code consists of 1147 articles divided into the following Parts: I) General provisions; II) Obligations or personal rights; III) Contracts; IV) Real rights.
PROPERTY AND REAL RIGHTS. Ownership is regulated under Chapter 1 of the Part on real rights. As a general rule, the owner of a thing, within the limits of the law, has the right to use, exploit and dispose of it. The ownership of land includes what is above it and what is below it to the extent useful for enjoying it, whether it is high or deep (articles 802 and 803).
OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS. According to article 147, the contract makes the law of the parties. It can be revoked or altered only by mutual consent of the parties or for reasons provided for by law. When, however, as a result of exceptional and unpredictable events of a general character, the performance of the contractual obligation, without becoming impossible, becomes excessively onerous in such way as to threaten the debtor with exorbitant loss, the judge may according to the circumstances, and after taking into consideration the interests of both parties, reduce to reasonable limits, the obligation that has become excessive. Any agreement to the contrary is void. Further, article 148 stipulates that a contract must be performed in accordance with its contents and in compliance with the requirements of good faith. A contract binds the contracting party not only as regards its expressed conditions, but also as regards everything which, according to law, usage and equity, is deemed, in view of the nature of the obligation, to be a necessary sequel to the contract. The Code sets forth specific rules applicable to sales and lease. As to the latter, provisions on sharecropping are laid down.
INHERITANCE. The Egyptian Civil Code does not include proviions on inheritance, which is governed by special laws.
AGRICULTURE. The Code lays down special rules applicable to sharecropping (agricultural lands or lands planted with trees are given as farms and in return the lessor takes part of the crop - article 619). The provisions of rent shall apply to the sharecropper. If the period of the sharecropping is not specified, the period shall be an annual agricultural cycle. The lease on farmland includes agricultural equipment and livestock found on the land.