The owner has the right to claim this property from such acquirer
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2025 3:44 am
If the seller sold goods that belong to another person on the right of ownership, without having the right to alienate them, then the buyer does not acquire the right of ownership of the goods, except for cases when the owner does not have the right to demand its return. If property under a pecuniary contract is purchased from a person who did not have the right to alienate it, about which the acquirer did not know and could not have known (a bona fide acquirer), only in the cases established by part one of Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine (taking into account the exceptions specified in part two of this article), while from an unscrupulous acquirer or from a bona fide acquirer who acquired the property free of charge, the owner has the right to claim it in all cases (Article 387, part three of Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).
Good faith is one of the general principles of civil law (clause 6 of part one of article 3 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). The good faith of the acquirer of property is important for the application of both the criterion of the legality of the state's interference with the acquirer's right to peaceful possession of property, and the criterion of the proportionality of such interference to the legitimate aim of the latter. If a person claims real estate, then to determine the good faith of its acquirer, in addition to the provisions of the Civil special database Code of Ukraine, the provision of paragraph 1 of part one of Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Real Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances” should be applied, according to which state registration of real rights to real estate and their encumbrances is the official recognition and confirmation by the state of the facts of acquisition, change or termination of real rights to real estate, encumbrances of such rights by entering relevant information into the State Register of Real Rights to Real Estate (see similar conclusions in the resolutions of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of October 23, 2019 in case No. 922/3537/17 (paragraphs 37), of November 2, 2021 in case No. 925/1351/19 (paragraph 6.45), of July 6, 2022 in case No. 914/2618/16 (item 53)).
When deciding on the possibility of recovering property from the defendant, in particular on the presence or absence of grounds for applying Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, one should take into account the conclusions of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court on the need to assess the good faith of the behavior of the registered owner of real estate first of all (see, in particular, the resolutions of June 26, 2019 in case No. 669/927/16-ts (paragraph 51), of October 23, 2019 in case No.
Good faith is one of the general principles of civil law (clause 6 of part one of article 3 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). The good faith of the acquirer of property is important for the application of both the criterion of the legality of the state's interference with the acquirer's right to peaceful possession of property, and the criterion of the proportionality of such interference to the legitimate aim of the latter. If a person claims real estate, then to determine the good faith of its acquirer, in addition to the provisions of the Civil special database Code of Ukraine, the provision of paragraph 1 of part one of Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Real Rights to Real Estate and Their Encumbrances” should be applied, according to which state registration of real rights to real estate and their encumbrances is the official recognition and confirmation by the state of the facts of acquisition, change or termination of real rights to real estate, encumbrances of such rights by entering relevant information into the State Register of Real Rights to Real Estate (see similar conclusions in the resolutions of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of October 23, 2019 in case No. 922/3537/17 (paragraphs 37), of November 2, 2021 in case No. 925/1351/19 (paragraph 6.45), of July 6, 2022 in case No. 914/2618/16 (item 53)).
When deciding on the possibility of recovering property from the defendant, in particular on the presence or absence of grounds for applying Article 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, one should take into account the conclusions of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court on the need to assess the good faith of the behavior of the registered owner of real estate first of all (see, in particular, the resolutions of June 26, 2019 in case No. 669/927/16-ts (paragraph 51), of October 23, 2019 in case No.