"Boni mores" instead of "moral principles". Stefanchuk explains new term in Civil Code

The new version of the Civil Code of Ukraine introduces the concept of "boni mores" ("good customs") for the first time, which will govern private relationships. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk explained on Facebook why the new term was introduced, according to the Ukrainian News agency.

"The term 'good customs' is the term we use to refer to the pan-European standard (boni mores), which has long been part of the civil legislation of EU countries, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, and others. With this purely Ukrainian word, selected by a professional philological group, we are simply replacing the outdated post-Soviet cliché ‘moral foundations of society,’ which historically stems from the Soviet formulation of ‘moral principles of building communism,’" he said.

Stefanchuk added, addressing critics of the innovation, that attacking a legal term with the root “good” due to its alleged vagueness and subjectivity is extremely dangerous, since all of the state’s modern anti-corruption legislation is based on the related concept of “integrity.”

He also emphasized that the first reading is just the beginning and that parliament is as open as possible to professional dialogue.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in April, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft of the new Civil Code in the first reading.

In September 2025, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that he had developed proposals to update the Civil Code to make it a true “supermarket of legal opportunities” for every Ukrainian.