IV. WRITING

Profile the legal systems of any two countries you choose which follow different traditions in law. You can use the description below as a model.

Ukraine is a civil law country. Laws are written down, the application of customary law is the exception and the role of case law is small in theory although in practice it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without also taking into account the relevant case law. The Ukrainian system of law is based on the French Code Civil with influences from Roman law and traditional Ukrainian customary law. The new civil law books (which went into force in 2004) were heavily influenced by the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch.

The primary law making body is formed by the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada). It is commonly referred to as the legislature. The power to make sub laws can be delegated to lower governments or specific organs of the State, but only for a prescribed purpose. A trend in recent years has been for parliament and the government to create "framework laws" and delegate the creation of detailed rules to ministers or lower governments (e.g. a region or municipality).

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is the main institution when it comes to Ukrainian law.