No marriage permits at age 14 — Verkhovna Rada passes new Civil Code in first reading
Kyiv • UNN
Draft Law No. 15150 was supported by 254 MPs. If passed in its entirety, Ukrainians will be able to inherit accounts and crypto-assets, claim compensation for war losses under specific rules, and courts will receive tools against cyber fraud and abuses involving artificial intelligence.
On Tuesday, April 28, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis a draft law that provides for a large-scale update and systemic revision of Ukraine's civil law. This was reported by UNN.
Details
The current Civil Code of Ukraine was adopted on January 16, 2003 — 254 people's deputies voted "in favor" of its update.
According to the explanatory note, the purpose of the draft law is the recodification and systemic update of Ukraine's private (civil) law by adopting a new Civil Code of Ukraine as a coherent, internally consistent, and effective codified act.
Achieving this goal is intended through a comprehensive update of private law institutions within nine books of the new Civil Code of Ukraine: Book One "General Part", Book Two "Personal Rights", Book Three "Property Rights", Book Four "Intellectual Property Rights", Book Five "Law of Obligations", Book Six "Family Law", Book Seven "Inheritance Law", Book Eight "Private International Law", Book Nine "Publicity of Civil Rights". Such architectonics ensure the systematic nature of codification, unity of the conceptual apparatus, consistency of inter-institutional links, and consistent implementation of the principles of private law in all segments of legal regulation
Main changes worth knowing about
Digital inheritance is being introduced. For the first time at the legislative level, the concept of digital assets will be established. This refers to virtual assets (in particular, cryptocurrencies), domain names, and user accounts. The new Civil Code, if adopted, will allow for the inheritance of digital legacy;
A separate institution of reparations is being introduced. It will include the right to reparation payments, insurance payments, and reproductive biological material;
The lines of succession and rules for managing "abandoned" inheritance will be expanded. This will apply until the rights are formally registered;
Protection against cyber-fraud is also being introduced, and liability for actions in the digital environment is being detailed. This also applies to the rules for contesting transactions;
But that's not all: the new Civil Code, if adopted, will allow the free use of objects generated by artificial intelligence systems for AI training — under specified conditions. It also provides rules for liability for damage caused by AI;
In addition, the new Civil Code provides for the introduction of a modernized model of obligations that is closer to the private law systems of other European countries.
Finally, this normative legal act regulates the legal status of children conceived using the reproductive material of a deceased person.
Recall
Draft law No. 14394, which allowed marriage from the age of 14 under certain conditions, was withdrawn after public debate.