Private law in the system of fundamental principles of civil society of Ukraine: main results of the recodification of civil legislation

The article is devoted to a comprehensive doctrinal analysis of the conceptual foundations, systemic novelties, and main results of the recodification of the civil (private) legislation of Ukraine in the context of European integration and digital transformations. The publication substantiates the necessity of a qualitative modernization of fundamental private law institutes and the departure from outdated Soviet-statist concepts in favor of a modern human-centric model harmonized with the law of the European Union. The aim of the article is to conduct a systemic analysis of the foundational approaches to the recodification of the civil legislation of Ukraine, as well as to determine the prospects for updating the general provisions of private law, personal non-property, property, obligations, family, and inheritance relations, intellectual property law, private international law, and the publicity of civil rights. The research employs a complex of philosophical, general scientific, and special legal methods. The dialectical method is used to reveal the evolution of civil law doctrine. Formal-logical and systemic analysis served as the basis for assessing the structure and content of Books 1–9 of the Draft Civil Code of Ukraine No. 15150. The comparative legal method was applied to compare the novelties with international soft law instruments (UNIDROIT Principles, PECL, PETL, DCFR) and EU standards. As a result of the study, the expediency of repealing the Commercial Code of Ukraine and expanding the scope of regulation of the Civil Code of Ukraine by establishing the presumption of the private nature of relations and consolidating family law and private international law is proven. The expansion of private law sources (including contracts, customs, and local acts) and private law principles (party autonomy, prohibition of abuse of rights) is analyzed. The modernization of personal rights (digital privacy, rights of legal entities), the updating of property law (abolition of the rights of economic management and operational management, introduction of usufruct and possession as a fact), the expansion of the law of obligations (protection of the weaker party, tort of armed aggression, artificial intelligence risks), and the introduction of a new Book Nine, "Publicity of Civil Rights", are highlighted. It is concluded that the updated Civil Code of Ukraine shapes the model of a Private Law Code for a digital society. The proposed recodification transforms the codification philosophy, ensures a high level of legal certainty, harmonizes Ukraine's private law with EU standards, and fosters the development of a market economy.

private law, principles of law, private legal relations, obligations, recodification, personal rights, property rights, EU law, digitalization