Short answer. Yes. Article 1805 gives every partner the right, at any reasonable hour, to have access to the partnership books and to inspect and copy them. The books must be kept at the principal place of business, and a managing partner has no power to switch that right off.
What the law says
every partner shall at any reasonable hour have access to and may inspect and copy any of them
Civil Code, Article 1805 — Partnership Books. Read the full provision →
The right is express, and it includes copying
Article 1805 requires the books to be kept at the principal place of business, subject to any agreement between the partners, and then provides that every partner shall at any reasonable hour have access to and may inspect and copy any of them. Three words in that clause do most of the work. Every partner, so it does not depend on the size of your stake or on holding a management role. Any of them, so it is not limited to summaries the managing partner prepares. And copy, so being allowed to look at a screen for an afternoon is not compliance.
The duty to inform runs wider than the books
Books are records, and records are not the whole picture. Article 1806 obliges partners to render on demand true and full information of all things affecting the partnership, to any partner and also to the legal representative of a deceased partner or of a partner under legal disability. That last clause matters in family firms, since the heirs of a partner who has died can ask for the same information he could have asked for. The duty is triggered by demand, which is a good reason to make yours in writing rather than across a table.
When inspection is not enough
Article 1809 gives any partner the right to a formal account of partnership affairs in defined situations: where he is wrongfully excluded from the business or from possession of its property by his co-partners, where an agreement gives him the right, in the circumstances covered by Article 1807 concerning benefits a partner must account for, and whenever other circumstances render it just and reasonable. A refusal to produce the books tends to fall in the last category, and it also supplies the evidence for it. The refusal is not merely an obstacle to your case; it is part of it.
How to build the record
Send a written demand naming the specific records and the period you want, propose a date and a reasonable hour, and keep proof that it was sent and received. Ask expressly for copies, since Article 1805 entitles you to them and a later dispute about what you were shown is avoidable. Keep every reply, including silence, and note anything you were told about where the books are held. If the refusal persists, that correspondence is what a lawyer will use, and it takes weeks rather than months to assemble.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1805 — Partnership Books
- Civil Code, Article 1806 — Duty of Full Information
- Civil Code, Article 1807 — Partner as Trustee of Benefits
- Civil Code, Article 1809 — Right to a Formal Account