The “Bulletin of the Odesa Bar” (No. 1/2026) has published an article by the partners of Juris Ferrum Law Firm titled “The Legal Nature of Acquisitive Prescription and Judicial Practice of Its Application” .
Authors of the article:
📘 Nadiia Gnizdovska — Attorney, Partner at Juris Ferrum Law Firm, Head of the Construction Law Committee of the Odesa Regional Bar Council, Member of the Construction Committee of the Ukrainian National Bar Association.
📘 Ganna Gnizdovska — PhD in Law, Attorney, Managing Partner of Juris Ferrum Law Firm, Secretary of the Construction Law Committee of the Odesa Regional Bar Council.
What is the article about?
The publication provides a comprehensive analysis of acquisitive prescription as an original method of acquiring ownership and systematizes current judicial practice regarding its application.
Key highlights of the article:
1️⃣ Acquisitive prescription as an exceptional legal instrument
The authors examine the legal nature of Article 344 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the relationship between factual possession and ownership rights, and explain why the lapse of 5 or 10 years does not in itself create ownership without a court decision and state registration.
Particular attention is paid to the distinction between:
• application of Article 344 of the Civil Code of Ukraine to immovable property;
• application of Article 119 of the Land Code of Ukraine to land plots.
2️⃣ Conditions for acquiring ownership by prescription: what courts examine
The article analyzes in detail the criteria that must be proven in cases concerning recognition of ownership by acquisitive prescription:
• good faith (specifically at the moment of acquiring possession);
• openness of possession;
• continuity;
• possession “as an owner” (animus domini);
• absence of legal title.
Special attention is given to standards of proof and common mistakes in building the evidentiary base, which most often lead to dismissal of claims.
3️⃣ Supreme Court practice: clear limits of application
The article examines key Supreme Court decisions that have shaped modern approaches to acquisitive prescription, including:
• the relationship between acquisitive prescription and inheritance;
• the limits of applying this mechanism to land plots;
• the impossibility of substituting privatization, inheritance, or contractual procedures with acquisitive prescription.
Courts apply acquisitive prescription with great caution. It is not a “quick way” to legalize the use of property.
It is applied only where a person has no other lawful basis for formalizing ownership and where all required conditions are clearly and convincingly proven in court.
👉 Full text in the “Bulletin of the Odesa Bar” (No. 1/2026) .