Invalidity of real estate contracts through the prism of judicial practice

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the Ukrainian court practice, the article examines the peculiarities of applying such methods of protecting real estate ownership as determining the consequences of void contracts and the peculiarities of qualifying contracts as void; invalidation of fraudulent transactions; and application of the in rem confiscation model, which is expressed in the “unjustified assets” construct.

The author emphasizes that the invalidity of a fraudulent transaction in a non-competitive dispute should guarantee the interests of the creditor(s) “through the possibility of access to the debtor’s property”, even if it is held by other persons. The author presents the approach formulated by the Supreme Court of Ukraine which allows qualifying a fraudulent transaction in an out-of-competition dispute as: fictitious; committed contrary to the principle of good faith and inadmissibility of abuse of law; and violating public order.

The article also analyzes the atypicality of the legal regime of the Ukrainian model of in rem confiscation, namely, the “unjustified assets” construct. This atypicality is manifested in the imperfection and inconsistency of the current legislation of Ukraine, which is clearly illustrated by the author.

References

List of legal documents Cases

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Postanova Apeliatsiinoi palaty Vyshchoho antykoruptsiinoho sudu vid 27.10.2021 v spravi No991/3401/21. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/100837765 (in Ukrainian).
Postanova VP VS vid 03.07.2019 po spravi No369/11268/16-ts. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/83482786 (in Ukrainian).
1. Postanova VP VS vid 10.04.2019 u spravi No463/5896/14-ts. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/82065661 (in Ukrainian).
2. Postanova KTsS VS vid 05.04.2023 u spravi No 523/17429/20. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/110083824 (in Ukrainian).
3. Postanova KTsS VS vid 07.10.2020 po spravi No755/17944/18. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/92315178 (in Ukrainian).
4. Postanova KTsS VS vid 12.04.2023 u spravi No 754/18852/21. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/110175637(in Ukrainian).
5. Postanova KTsS VS vid 29.06.2022 u spravi No571/1607/20. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/105036574(in Ukrainian).
6. Postanova OP KHS VS vid 07.12.2018 u spravi No 910/7547/17. Yedynyi derzhavnyi reiestr sudovykh rishen. URL: https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/78484783(in Ukrainian).
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