Conflict-of-laws regulation of non-contractual obligations in private international law of Ukraine is exercised subject to the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Private International Law” (PIL Law). The main situs formulas used according to PIL Law is the connection to the place where an action is committed – the action which has given rise to an obligation or offence – lex loci actus and lex loci delicti commissi. Despite the fact that these situs formulas are traditional for non-contractual obligations, unified conflict of laws of the European Union (EU) countries on non-contractual obligations, embodied in EU Regulation No. 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations, has shifted away from the use of these connecting factors in favor of the factor of the place where harmful consequences occurred – lex loci damni.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the conflict-of-laws mechanism which is applicable to non-contractual obligations and enshrined in current legislation of Ukraine, with a view to determining the existing problems of its use, including by means of analyzing how current situs formulas are used in court practice and by means of analyzing current EU law in respect of non-contractual obligations, in order to determine whether a reformof current Ukrainian legislation is needed; the article also formulates proposals regarding amendments to PIL Law.

Based on the conducted research the author established that the main situs formulas used to determine the law to be applied to non-contractual obligations according to current legislation of Ukraine is the connection to the place where an action is committed – the action which has given rise to an obligation or offence – lex loci actus and lex loci delicti commissi. Furthermore, PIL Law provides for a number of special connecting factors, in particular, to the law of common domicile of the parties and the law of closest connection. Ukrainian law also prescribes special situs formulas in respect of the obligations which arise from damage caused due to the defects of goods, works (services), and in respect of the obligations to acquire and safe-keep property without a sufficient legal basis. As the main situs rule, EU Regulation No. 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations provides for such a connecting factor as the place where harmful consequences occurred lex loci damni, if the parties have not implemented the choice of law in accordance with lex voluntatis, and also contains a number of special conflict-of-laws connecting factors according to which applicable law is determined in numerous separate types of legal relations.

 According to the conclusions formulated by the author, it is expedient to amend legislation of Ukraine, in particular PIL Law, with a view to consolidating the place where harmful consequences occurred lex loci damni at the level of the main situs formula, and with a view to consolidating special conflict-of-laws connecting factors for certain types of legal relations, in particular, for the obligations arising from environmental damage and as a result of strikes or lockouts, and also with the aim of eliminating other gaps in legislation.

Bibliography

Edited books

1. Pamyatniki rymskogo prava: Zakony 12 tablits. Institutsii Gaya. Dygesty Yustiniana [Monuments of Roman Law: The Laws of the Twelve Tables; The Institutes of Gaius. The Digests of Justinian] (Zertsalo 1997) (in Russian).

Journal articles

 2. Troshchenko I, ‘Analiz pravozastosovnoyi praktyky Zakonu Ukrainy “Pro mizhnarodne pryvatne parvo” v chastyni koliziynogo regulyuvannya nedogovirnyh zobovyazan’ [‘Analysis of the Law Application Practice of the Law of Ukraine “On Private International Law” in Terms of Conflict-of-Laws Regulation of Non-Contractual Obligations’] (2018) 3 Pravovi Systemy. Naukovo-praktychnyy elektronnyy zhurnal 357 <http://legalsystems.net.ua/?page_id=447> (accessed: 05.05.2020) (in Ukrainian).

3. Vyshnovetska S ta Yushchenko K, ‘Problemy vyboru naydotsilnishoyi formy kodyfikatsiyi norm mizhnarodnogo pryvatnogo prava’ [‘Problems of Choosing the Most Appropriate Form for Codification of Private International Law’] (2012) 3 Yurydychnyy Visnyk 84 (in Ukrainian).

Newspaper articles

 4. Kysil V, ‘Nelzya otkladyvat prinyatiye Zakona’ [‘We May Not Delay the Adoption of the Law’] [2004] 26 (340) PRAVO.UA <https://pravo.ua/articles/nelzja-otkladyvatprinjatiezakona> (accessed: 05.05.2020) (in Ukrainian). Iryna Troshchenko