The New Civil Code May Complicate Rules for Landowners and Agribusiness: Risks Stated in the Parliament

The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy held a roundtable on "The Impact of the New Edition of the Civil Code of Ukraine on Land and Agrarian Legislation."

During the event, participants discussed provisions of the draft new edition of the Civil Code of Ukraine (bill No. 15150), which is currently being prepared for consideration in the second reading. The Committee noted that the discussion around the document is important because the proposed changes may affect the regulation of land relations, the development of the agrarian sector, and future law enforcement practice.

The roundtable served as a platform to discuss specific provisions of the draft new Civil Code and their possible impact on land and agrarian legislation.

Participants focused on the relationship between civil and land law norms, the legal regime of land plots, property rights to land, protection of the rights of landowners and users, as well as potential consequences for agricultural production and business operations.

During the discussion, several positions were expressed regarding certain provisions of the bill. In particular, participants emphasized that land relations should be regulated by the Land Code of Ukraine. It was also noted that the exercise of the preemptive right to purchase agricultural land plots should be carried out in accordance with land legislation.

Special attention was drawn to the fact that issues of invalidity of land use agreements should be resolved exclusively by court decision. Additionally, participants discussed possible risks associated with the introduction of the institution of the right of possession and stressed that the adoption of the bill should not lead to additional burdensome costs or new obligations for citizens and business entities.

During the roundtable, comments and proposals were also made regarding the regulation of other aspects of land relations in the draft Civil Code. In particular, the need to preserve the farming enterprise as a separate organizational and legal form, proper legislative support for the activities of agricultural cooperatives in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Agricultural Cooperation," as well as regulation of plant variety rights protection issues in the fourth book of the draft were discussed.

Participants noted that during further refinement of the relevant provisions, it is advisable to ensure their consistency with current land and agrarian legislation, as well as to consider the interests of landowners, agricultural producers, and local self-government bodies.

As a result of the roundtable, it was reported that the Working Group on Recodification (updating) of Ukraine's civil legislation has already begun working on processing and taking into account the expressed comments. At the same time, participants emphasized the importance of continued professional dialogue between the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, the Recodification Working Group, and the Committee on Legal Policy to refine the bill between the first and second readings.

As reported by the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper", the Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 15150 as a basis with revisions according to part 1 of article 116 and taking into account proposals outlined in the main committee's conclusion. The bill provides for a large-scale update and systematic review of civil law in Ukraine.

15,328 amendments and proposals were submitted to the draft new Civil Code of Ukraine No. 15150. According to Ruslan Stefanchuk, a significant portion of them may be an attempt to block the consideration of the document in the second reading. He noted that this number of amendments is a record for bills considered by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy over the last two parliamentary convocations.

For comparison, the previous maximum number of amendments to one bill was about 5,000. Thus, the draft new Civil Code has more than tripled the previous record.

The Council of Europe also supported the new Civil Code but called to protect journalistic investigations.

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