GERMAN CIVIL CODE OF 1896

Based on the English Translation by: Wang, Chung Hui (1907). The German Civil Code, translated and annotated with historical introduction and appendices. London: Stevens and Sons. [available on Archive.org]

BOOK I. General Principles.

[I] If the validity of a contract or of a unilateral juristic act which purports to be entered into with another depends upon the consent of a third party, the giving or refusal of consent may be declared as well to the one as to the other party.
[II] The consent need not be in the form prescribed for the juristic act.
[III] If a unilateral juristic act whose validity depends upon the consent of a third party is entered into with the approval of the third party, the provisions of 111, sentences 2, 3, apply mutatis mutandis.

Precedent consent (i.e., approval) is revocable until the juristic act has been entered into, unless a contrary intention appears from the legal relation by virtue of which the approval is given. The revocation may be declared as well to the one as to the other party.

[I] Subsequent consent (i.e., ratification) operates as from the moment when the juristic act was entered into, unless it is otherwise provided.
[II] Dispositions affecting the object of the juristic act which before the ratification have been made by the party ratifying, or which have been effected by means of compulsory execution or distraint or by a trustee in bankruptcy, are not invalidated by the retrospective operation of the ratification.

[I] A disposition affecting any object which is made by a person without title, if made with the approval of the person entitled, is valid.
[II] The disposition is effective if the person entitled ratifies it, or if the disposer acquires the object, or if the person entitled becomes his heir and liable for the liabilities of the estate without limitation. In the last two cases, if several incompatible dispositions have been made affecting the object, only the earliest disposition is effective.