Department of Private Law

General Information

The Department of Civil Law and Procedure was established pursuant to Order No. 71-p of 9 November 1995. In 1997–2007 it was known as the Department of Civil Law Disciplines. In September 2024, the department was reorganised into the Department of Private Law. Currently, the department's staff includes 2 Doctors of Law, Professors, Honoured Lawyers of Ukraine Svitlana Dmytrivna Grynko and Volodymyr Antonovych Vatras; 3 Candidates of Law, Professors Yuriy Valeriiovych Bilousov, Nadiia Leontiivna Bondarenko-Zelinska and Zhanna Leontiivna Chorna; 7 Candidates of Law, Associate Professors Galyna Volodymyrivna Anikina, Vladyslav Vitaliiovych Vasyliev, Myroslava Bohdanivna Hariievska, Iryna Leonidivna Serdechna, Oksana Mykhailivna Trach and Svitlana Oleksiivna Yakymchuk; 2 Doctors of Philosophy in the specialty 081 Law, Associate Professors Larysa Valeriivna Hrytsyshyna and Mariia Ivanivna Romas; and Doctor of Philosophy in the specialty 081 Law Denys Serhiiovych Romas. The academic staff of the department actively combine teaching with practical work in most areas of private law. Heads of the department at different times were: Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine Volodymyr Ivanovych Andreitsev; Candidate of Law, Associate Professor Volodymyr Dmytrovych Kotenko; Candidate of Law, Professor Yuriy Valeriiovych Bilousov; Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine Ruslan Oleksiiovych Stefanchuk; Candidate of Law, Associate Professor Anatolii Vasyliovych Andrushko. Since 2011, the department has been headed by Doctor of Law, Professor Svitlana Dmytrivna Grynko. At different times, the department's disciplines were taught by: Academicians Opanas Andronovych Pidoprygora and Mykhailo Yosypovych Shtefan; Doctors of Law Volodymyr Mykhailovych Kossak, Mariia Vasylivna Krasnova, Iryna Mykolaivna Kucherenko and Mykola Oleksiiovych Stefanchuk; Associate Professors Volodymyr Yaroslavovych Burak and Maksym Oleksandrovych Frolov; Candidates of Law, advocates Serhii Valeriiovych Nyzhnyi and Olha Yevhenivna Sambir; and distinguished practising lawyers: Oleksii Mykolaiovych Levanchuk – Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine (1995–1996), Head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Court of Appeal (1996–2012) and Head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Court of Appeal (2012–2014), Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine; Nelia Vasylivna Prodan – Head of the Main Territorial Department of Justice in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, who repeatedly chaired the State Examination Board at the University's Faculty of Law; and Valentyna Vasylivna Michkovska – Head of the Khmelnytskyi City Civil Registry Office. The department's academic staff continuously improve their qualifications through international and foreign internships at such institutions as the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations, the World Intellectual Property Organization and others. 51% of the department's lecturers hold documented proof of foreign-language proficiency at B2 level or higher: G. V. Anikina, Yu. V. Bilousov, N. L. Bondarenko-Zelinska, V. A. Vatras, M. B. Hariievska, V. I. Nahnybida, I. L. Serdechna, Zh. L. Chorna and S. O. Yakymchuk.
The department's academic staff actively participate in writing scientific and practical commentaries on the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure and the Family Code of Ukraine, as well as textbooks and manuals on civil law and procedure, family law, enforcement proceedings and alternative dispute resolution, including within the framework of the TEMPUS project 543990-TEMPUS-1-2013-1-DE-TEMPUS-JPCR (TRADIR). Particularly noteworthy is the active participation in writing a textbook on military law, as well as in preparing reference publications, in particular collections of civil legislation on Ukrainian lands and a reference book on World Trade Organization law. The lecturers have produced 40 scientific publications in periodicals included in scientometric databases, in particular Scopus or Web of Science Core Collection.
The lecturers systematically set out their views on the most pressing problems in the field of private law in single-author and collective monographs, as well as in scholarly articles in specialised journals and other scientific collections. The most significant scholarly works of recent years include the single-author monograph by V. A. Vatras "Sources of Family Law: Problems of Theory and Practice" (2020), as well as the collective monographs "Updating the Civil Code of Ukraine: Shaping Approaches" (2020), "Modern Trends in the Development of Family Legislation in Ukraine in Light of the Recodification (Updating) of the Civil Code of Ukraine. Recodification of Civil Legislation of Ukraine: Challenges of the Time" (2021), "Inheritance Law: Problems of Theory and Practice" (2023) and "Trends in the Formation and Development of the Law of Obligations" (2024). The principal research findings substantially influence the development of the doctrine of private law and have served as a basis for further general theoretical research into problems of private law in Ukraine and beyond. They are used in the educational process in teaching private-law disciplines, as confirmed by certificates of implementation of research results. The proposals for amendments and additions to the current legislation of Ukraine set out and substantiated in the research have been used in law-making, as confirmed by certificates of implementation of research results in the legislative activity of certain committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The significance of the department's scholarly work is also evidenced by awards at the Saint Volodymyr competitions for the best scientific and legal publication in Ukraine (Khmelnytskyi) in the categories "Textbooks and Manuals" ("Introduction to Alternative Dispute Resolution", 2020) and "Civil Law and Civil Procedure; Family Law; Private International Law" (S. D. Grynko, "Tort Obligations in Roman Private Law: Concept, System, Reception", 2012; V. A. Vatras, "Sources of Family Law: Problems of Theory and Practice: Monograph", 2021; I. L. Serdechna, "Personal Non-Property Rights and Obligations of Other Family Members and Relatives: Monograph", 2018), as well as at the All-Ukrainian competition for the best scientific and legal publication (Dnipro).
For more than ten years (since 2004), the department's research activities were linked with the Scientific Laboratory for Adaptation of Civil Legislation to European Union Standards of the Academician F. H. Burchak Scientific Research Institute of Private Law and Entrepreneurship of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, which operated on the basis of Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law.
The department initiated the establishment at the University of a scientific school in the branch of knowledge 081 Law, "Khmelnytskyi School of Private Law" (decision of the Academic Council of 25 February 2022), whose main task is to conduct scientific research and to train academic, teaching and research personnel. The scientific founder of the school is Professor Ruslan Oleksiiovych Stefanchuk, and its head is Professor Svitlana Dmytrivna Grynko. The school has 24 members.
Since 2006, the department's academic staff have supported the postgraduate programme at Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law in the specialty 12.00.03 "Civil Law and Civil Procedure; Family Law; Private International Law". 32 Candidates of Law have been trained.
Since 2016, the department has provided training of Doctors of Philosophy in the specialty 081 Law in the branch of knowledge 08 Law. 20 Doctors of Philosophy have been trained. The department's lecturers are regularly invited to review dissertations. They actively take part in the meetings of standing and one-time specialised academic councils as members: S. D. Grynko was a member of the specialised academic councils D 26.730.02 at the National Academy of Prosecution of Ukraine, D 64.051.28 at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, K 58.082.04 at Ternopil National Economic University and D 58.082.04 at West Ukrainian National University; Deputy Chair (since 2018) and then Chair of the specialised academic council K 70.895.02 at Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law (September 2020 – December 2021). V. A. Vatras and I. L. Serdechna were members of the specialised academic council K 70.895.02 at Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law.
The department's lecturers actively take part as members of one-time specialised academic councils for the defence of dissertations submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the specialty 081 Law.
Department representatives, as experts, actively participate in preparing opinions in response to inquiries to the Council of Scientific and Legal Expertise of Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law. They have prepared scientific opinions at the request of foreign legal entities and have also acted as experts on Ukrainian civil legislation in foreign courts, in particular S. D. Grynko and R. O. Stefanchuk in the Stockholm court (2018).
The department's academic staff provide teaching of fundamental disciplines of the Faculty of Law, as well as of certain disciplines of the Faculty of Management and Economics under various educational programmes. Under the supervision and guidance of the department's lecturers, students take part in various competitions and become winners and nominees (the Hackathon on Legal Education Reform, the V. M. Koretsky International Law Competition, the All-Ukrainian Debate Tournament in Civil Law and Procedure "The Art of Judicial Speech" and others).
The department's academic staff continuously receive recognition from the academic and public community: S. D. Grynko was awarded the honorary title "Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine" (2020), a certificate of honour (2007) and the Badge of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine "Excellence in Education" (2022); V. A. Vatras was awarded the honorary title "Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine" (2021); Yu. V. Bilousov was awarded the honorary title "Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine" (2022); N. L. Bondarenko-Zelinska was awarded a certificate of honour of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (2021); M. B. Hariievska received a letter of appreciation from the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council (2021); O. M. Trach received a letter of appreciation from the Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration (2019); G. V. Anikina received a letter of appreciation from the Central-Western Interregional Department of the Ministry of Justice (2022); Zh. L. Chorna received a letter of appreciation from the Khmelnytskyi Regional Council (2021).