Obligations under the updated Civil Code: advocates have made proposals

The Ukrainian National Bar Association has prepared comments and proposals on the draft law amending the Civil Code of Ukraine in connection with the update (recodification) of Book 5, «Obligations».

The relevant developments on recodification were prepared by a working group and submitted to parliament as drafts Nos. 14056 and 14057, after which they were put up for public discussion.

The UNBA Committee on civil law and procedure, which conducted a legal analysis of the legislative initiative, noted that any interference in the structure of the law of obligations must be carried out in compliance with the principles enshrined in Articles 3, 6, 13, 509, and 627 of the Civil Code, and taking into account the requirements of legal certainty, predictability of law enforcement, and stability of contractual regulation, which has been repeatedly emphasized in the practice of the Supreme Court.

The UNBA's comments and proposals concern a number of provisions that are proposed to be regulated in Book 5 of the updated Civil Code. In particular, these relate to certain aspects of retail trade, the consequences of assignment, the performance of obligations by joint and several debtors, as well as the regulation of certain contractual arrangements (gifts, hire, contracts for work, the performance of research, development and technological work, transportation and freight forwarding, insurance, commissions), issues of disposal of intellectual property rights, and liability for damage.

In general, the UNBA supports efforts to recodify private law, but emphasizes that legislative changes should not violate existing rights of individuals or lead to a deterioration in the quality of legal regulation of social relations.

The full text of comments and proposals on the draft law can be viewed at this link.