GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRIVATE LAW IN EUROPEAN LAW AND IN THE UPDATED CIVIL CODE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive legal analysis of the general principles of private law as a fundamental category of modern civil law. It is substantiated that the principles of private law constitute not only an ideological and value-based foundation of legal regulation, but also perform regulatory, interpretative, and law-making functions, defining the limits of permissible behavior of private parties and ensuring a balance between private interests and the public good.
Particular attention is paid to the transformation of approaches to the codification of principles in the draft updated Civil Code of Ukraine, which reflects a shift from the concept of principles of civil legislation to a broader category of principles of private law, in line with contemporary European legal tradition. The study examines the influence of European private law doctrine, unified legal instruments (such as PECL, DCFR, CISG), and the legal systems of EU Member States on the development of the draft Civil Code of Ukraine.
The paper conducts a comparative legal analysis of the codification of general principles in the civil codes of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. It is established that different models of codification exist: implicit (through general clauses), fragmented (through separate provisions), and systematic (through dedicated principle-based articles).
The study concludes that the draft Civil Code of Ukraine follows a systematic European model, enhancing legal certainty and effectiveness of judicial practice. The general principles of private law are viewed as a universal instrument for ensuring fairness, good faith, and proportionality in civil relations, which is particularly important in the context of Ukraine’s European integration.