Ukraine may soon face the most comprehensive reform of its private law since the adoption of the Civil Code in 2003.

On 22 January 2026, Bill No. 14394 proposing a new “Code of Law Private” was introduced in Parliament. The draft spans 832 pages and would significantly reshape Ukrainian civil, family and private international law, introducing new legal concepts including preventive damages, AI-generated works, expanded limitation periods and the codification of war-related tort claims.

From this article you will learn:

• what structural and legislative changes the Bill proposes;
• how AI, deep text and data mining, and public property are addressed;
• why the legal community has responded with scepticism;
• what impact the reform could have on businesses operating in or under Ukrainian law.

On 22 January 2026, bill No. 14394, the “Bill Civil Code of Ukraine (Code of Law Private)”, was introduced in the Ukrainian parliament by its Chair, Dr Ruslan Stefanchuk, and 170 other MPs. According to Dr Stefanchuk, work on the Bill has been under way since 2019 under the guidance of a special committee of MPs and leading Ukrainian private law scholars, but, to the best of our knowledge, this work was rarely announced.

The Bill is an 832-page document containing 1949 Articles of substantive provisions plus transitional and miscellaneous provisions. This summary provides a quick overview of its primary objectives and some of the major structural and legislative changes proposed.

Objectives of the Bill
Although, the Explanatory note to the Bill praises the effective Civil Code of Ukraine adopted in 2003 (the “Civil Code”) as a “defining event in the development of national private law” and its role in developing the doctrine of legal equality of parties and the inadmissibility of arbitrary state interference in private relations, the authors of the Bill suggest that the Civil Code needs to be brought up to date with “rapid development of social relations”.

Also, the authors emphasise the need to bring Ukrainian private law in line with modern European standards, taking into account European acts and recommendations such as Principles, Definitions and Model Rules of European Private Law, Principles of European Contract Law, Principles of European Tort Law, UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts.

Major amendments suggested by the Bill are as follows:

Structural amendments:
• The Bill proposes adding a rather poetic subtitle of “Code of Law Private” to the Civil Code’s title. According to the Explanatory note, this shows the aim of recodifying Ukrainian private law and is ostensibly in line with the “European best practices”.

• The Bill consolidates the provisions on family law, currently set forth in the 2002 Family Code, and private international law, governed by the 2005 the Law of Ukraine “On Private International Law”, into a single legislative act.

The Bill introduces the following legal concepts and procedures:
• Preventive damages, i.e. expenses incurred by a person to prevent the occurrence of a threat of damage property damage, as a new type of damages.

• The exhaustive list of forms of private law legal entities (corporations or establishments) whereas the effective Civil Code has no restrictions on forms of legal entities which can be set up under Ukrainian law if provided for by other statutes.

• A special procedure of the out-of-court voiding of a contract by the parties. However, the court will still be required to examine the alleged grounds for voiding of the contract at the request of the party opposing the voidance.

• A right to disconnect (“information peace” in glossary of the Bill), i.e., an individual’s liberty not to accept work, official, professional and/or other communications during non-working hours, weekends, and public holidays.

• A concept of “public property”, e.g., mineral and other natural resources, forests, etc. Public property is inalienable, cannot be seized, and is not subject to the statute of limitations.

• Legal framework for the use of the AI. In particular, the Bill envisages that the rights to a non-original object generated by an AI system are vested in the person who lawfully uses such system, unless otherwise specified by agreement or law.

• A fair use exception for deep text and data mining (TDM) of the copyrighted content. In particular, no restrictions by the copyright holder may be imposed for the TDM conducted in scientific and educational purposes without commercial intent while in all other cases the TDM will be allowed unless expressly prohibited by the copyright holder.

• The deposit and assignment of the right as new types of securing obligation.

In addition, the Bill expands:
• The application of corporate agreements not only to limited liability, additional liability and joint-stock companies, but also to all business corporations.

• The limitation periods for application of legal consequences of a void contact, from three years to ten years.

• The parties’ autonomy to choose applicable law, including the possibility of choosing not only the law of a particular state but also principles and rules of transnational commercial law.

Finally, the Bill codifies into statutory law the following concepts developed by the case law of the Supreme Court:
• Legal equality, private autonomy, free exercise of one’s rights (so-called “dispositivity”), and prohibition of abuse of rights are now explicitly listed as the new principles of civil law.

• A concept of a fraudulent contract, i.e. one concluded by a debtor contrary with a view to prejudicing the interests of creditors.

• “Armed aggression delict” as a new type of tort obligating the aggressor State to compensate the damage caused as the result of the illegal armed aggression by it.

Is the Bill a timely initiative?
As the Explanatory note to the Bill states, the adoption of the Civil Code in 2003 was a defining event in the development of national private law. It ended the regulation of private relations with Soviet and post-Soviet rules.

It is common knowledge that the Civil Code is one of the best pieces of legislation of independent Ukraine and, frankly, has had a significant influence on the development of the market economy. Besides, it is only fairly recently, with the launch of the new Supreme Court, that the potential of the ideas and concepts of the Civil Code has come to be fully realised.

Also, 20 years is hardly too long a time for an act as comprehensive as the Civil Code to become dated, however rapid the “development of social relations” might have been.

Last but not least, with the approaching fifth year of full-scale Russian invasion, the energy and efforts of the Parliament should perhaps be devoted to solving pressing war-related problems which abound and are multiplying with each passing day of the ongoing genocidal war.

Thus, the Bill has received a lukewarm welcome by Ukrainian legal community and was met with a fair amount of scepticism. We also share this scepticism and, irrespective of the certain positive novelties the Bill proposes (which may be inserted into the Civil Code without rewriting it entirely), we believe the Bill to be untimely and out of touch with the realities of the war time.

Possible adoption timeline
Adopting a new code is a complex process that requires mandatory three readings in the parliament and does not allow for any simplification of the regular legislative procedure. Thus, the adoption of the Bill could take many months or even longer despite the proactive position of certain MPs.

Effect if adopted
The Civil Code serves as the main source of private law in Ukraine, affecting all business and personal transactions. If the Bill is adopted, it will significantly impact the business environment and all parties operating in Ukraine or under Ukrainian law. We shall continue to monitor the progress of the Bill and provide updates on major developments.

By Yaroslav Brych and Sergiy Gryshko

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the proposed “Code of Law Private” in Ukraine?
The Bill proposes a full recodification of Ukrainian private law, replacing and consolidating the current Civil Code, Family Code and Law of Ukraine “On Private International Law” into a single legislative act.
2. What are the most significant changes introduced by the draft?
Key innovations include preventive damages, a concept of “public property”, a right to disconnect, AI-generated works regulation, a fair-use exception for text and data mining, expanded limitation periods, codification of fraudulent contracts, out-of-court voiding of a contract, new types of securing obligation and recognition of an “armed aggression delict.”
3. How would the reform affect businesses operating in Ukraine?
If adopted, the new Code would significantly impact contractual practice, corporate governance, limitation periods, choice of law clauses and liability structures for businesses operating in Ukraine or under Ukrainian law.
4. Is the timing of the reform controversial?
Yes. While the reform ostensibly aims to align Ukrainian law with European standards, many commentators question whether a full recodification is timely given the ongoing war and the relative stability of the existing Civil Code framework.