On April 3, 2026, the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific-Legal Expertise of the NAS of Ukraine, together with the Department of Civil Law Sciences of the NALS of Ukraine and the Supreme Court, held the XV International Civil Law Forum "Updated Civil Code of Ukraine: Prospects and Problems of Legal Understanding and Law Enforcement".
Within the framework of the forum, conceptual approaches to updating the Civil Code of Ukraine were presented and key innovations of the draft were discussed through the prism of legal understanding and law enforcement. The event brought together scholars, judges, practicing lawyers, and foreign colleagues around a professional discussion on the main directions of private law recodification in Ukraine.
The forum was opened by the Head of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko. In his welcoming speech, he thanked the co-organizers and participants of the event, emphasized the importance of the European integration orientation of the civil legislation update, and highlighted the special significance of this work amid the current challenges facing the state.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Doctor of Law Ruslan Stefanchuk, in his speech stressed that special attention to updating the Civil Code of Ukraine is due to its importance for every person, as this act directly affects the daily lives of citizens. He particularly emphasized that the reputation of Ukraine on the international stage largely depends on the level of cooperation among the legal, scientific, and judicial communities. He also noted that during the preparation of the draft Code, interaction took place with many scientific and educational institutions.
On behalf of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Vice-President of the NAS of Ukraine, academician of the NAS of Ukraine Oleh Rafalskyi, greeted those present. According to him, this forum has special significance and marks an important stage for Ukrainian statehood, when private law is perceived not just as a system of norms but as the foundation of a future European democratic legal society. He emphasized the significant contribution of the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific-Legal Expertise of the NAS of Ukraine to the work of the Working Group on preparing the draft law on the recodification of civil legislation. The speaker believes this is an example of how scientific developments are directly transformed into a quality legislative product. Oleh Rafalskyi also stressed that the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine will continue to support the development of civil law thought and the scientific elaboration of issues related to the recodification of civil legislation.
The Head of the Cassation Civil Court within the Supreme Court Maryna Chervynska greeted the forum participants and emphasized the importance of a professional discussion of the issues brought before it. She stressed that the combination of a scientific approach and judicial practice creates the necessary conditions for the further development of civil law and a deeper understanding of modern legal processes.
The Director of the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific-Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Law Oleksii Kot, addressing the forum participants, noted the broad geographic and institutional composition of its participants and thanked all institutions and scientific centers that contributed to the event. He particularly emphasized the unique scientific atmosphere of the forum, noting that over 100 representatives of leading scientific centers from Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, as well as renowned civil law schools from Germany, Kazakhstan, and Moldova, united to discuss the most pressing issues of civil legislation recodification.
Academician-Secretary of the Department of Civil Law Sciences of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine Andrii Hryniak greeted the forum participants and expressed gratitude to all who contributed to the preparation and discussion of the draft updated Civil Code of Ukraine.
The scientific coordinator of the Working Group on preparing the draft law on the recodification (update) of civil legislation of Ukraine, Doctor of Law Nataliia Kuznetsova, emphasized that this is precisely about the updated Civil Code of Ukraine, which proposes a new vision of private law as the law that defines the limits of human freedom. She paid special attention to the presumption of privacy of relations: relations are considered private if their public nature does not directly follow from their essence or is not established by law. The speech also highlighted the formation in the draft of European standards of private law, the role of the contract as one of the regulators of private law relations, the expansion of the system of principles of private law, the departure from Soviet constructs of economic management and operational control, as well as the need for a new approach to the participation of public law legal entities in private relations.
The Secretary of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Serhii Pohrybnyi, in his report, emphasized that legislation must be scientifically grounded and meet the real needs of society, and law must remain a living instrument that constantly evolves.
The Director of the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific-Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleksii Kot dedicated his speech to the general principles of private law as the ideological core of the updated Civil Code of Ukraine.
The Director of the Research Institute of Private Law (Republic of Kazakhstan) Maidan Suleimenov congratulated Ukrainian civil law scholars on the large-scale work on the recodification of civil legislation and highly appreciated Ukraine's achievements in this area.
Professor of the Department of Civil Law of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Olena Kokhanovska dedicated her speech to the second book of the draft Civil Code of Ukraine, which concerns personal non-property rights.
