Ukrainian jurist, Doctor of Law since 1939, Professor since 1920, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR since 1948.

Born into a family of an official. In 1910 he graduated from the Ekaterinoslav Gymnasium with a gold medal. During 1910-1911 he studied at the Law Faculty of Moscow University, In 1916 he graduated from the Law Faculty of Kharkiv University with a 1st degree diploma. He was left to prepare for the title of professor at the Department of Civil Law and Judicial Procedure.

After the 1917 revolution, he became vice-rector and deputy dean of the law faculty of the Kharkiv Institute of National Economy, lectured on the general history of state and law and private international law. In 1930, the Faculty of Law was transformed into the Kharkiv Institute of Soviet Construction and Law, in 1932 - into the All-Ukrainian Communist Institute of Soviet Construction and Law, and in 1937 - into the Kharkiv Law Institute (now - the Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine).

During 1920-1941, he held the positions of professor and head (from 1937) of the Department of History of State and Law at these educational institutions. He combined teaching with practical work: he was head of the legal department of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR (1921-1922), head of the legal department of the Ukoopspilka (1922-1937),1924), head of the legal department of Ukrainbank (1924-1930), senior consultant of the State Arbitration at the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR (1930-1935).

The beginning of Koretsky V. M.'s scientific activity dates back to the 1920s. During this period, he published a number of scientific works:

·      «Problems of private international law in treaties concluded by Soviet republics with foreign states»,

·     «On the question of the performance of obligations: some lessons from the latest German judicial practice»,

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·     «The Impact of Securing Paper Money on the Fulfillment of Obligations»,

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·     «The Question of the Influence of the Devaluation of Money on the Performance of Obligations in German Jurisprudence»,

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·      «Reciprocity Clause in Private International Law» (1925),

·        «Savigni in Private International Law» (1926),

·     «The Principle of the  Open Doors», «Uniformity in Law» (both — 1927),

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The result of many years of work of the scientist in the field of private international law was the creation of a large monographic work "Essays on the Anglo-American Doctrine and Practice of Private International Law" (1948). In 1950, the work was published in the People's Republic of China in Chinese. It was on this issue that Koretsky V. M. defended his doctoral dissertation in 1939.

Since the beginning of World War II, by order of the Government of Ukraine, Koretsky V. M., among other scientists, was evacuated to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and taught world history of state and law at the law institute established there. After the liberation of Kharkov and the resumption of the activities of the Kharkov Law Institute in 1944, he worked there as a professor, and since 1947 - Head of the Department of International Law.

In 1948, he was elected an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, and in 1949 he headed the Sector of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, established in Kyiv. After the transformation of the Sector into the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR in 1969, he was the director of the Institute until 1974, then - honorary director, head of the Department of International Law and Comparative Jurisprudence.

Under his leadership, the Institute became one of the leading scientific and research legal institutions not only in Ukraine, but also in the USSR. At this time, he focused his attention on the study of problems of international public law. The scientist wrote such works as "Sovereignty" (1963) and "International Legal Personality of the Ukrainian SSR" (1965).

·      For many years, the scientist's interest was in the problem of codification of international law, which he covered in his works:

·       «First Session of the International Law Commission» (1949),

·     «On the Field Project. From the History of Projects for the Codification of International Law» (1956),

·       «History of the Codification of International Maritime Law» (1962).

Analyzing the ways of development of modern international law, V.M. Koretsky paid much attention to human rights, the study of progressive principles of international law, its correlation with domestic law. The scientist's ideas on these fundamental problems are contained in the works:

·      «General principles of law in international law» (1957),

·      «Problems of the Fundamental Rights and Duties of States in International Law» (1959),

·           «Declaration of the Rights and Duties of States» (1962).

V. M. Koretsky's activity as a historian of law, especially of the early feudal state and the law of the Anglo-Saxons, was multifaceted. It found its embodiment in the following works of the scientist:

·      "Court and legal process in the Frankish state",

·      "Immunity in the Frankish state",

·      "Court of Femes" (all three — 1944),

·      «Military Structure of the Frankish State»,

·      «Anglo-Saxon Truths»,

·  laquo;Lectures on the History of State and Law» (all three — 1947),

·     «To the History of the Holy Roman Empire. 1200-1806» (1970).

Under his editorship, the "Chrestomathy of Monuments of the Feudal State and Law of European Countries" was published in 1961. As part of the USSR delegation, he participated in the preparatory sessions of the deputy ministers of foreign affairs for the Paris Peace Conference and in the conference itself, convened to conclude peace treaties between the states of the anti-Hitler coalition and the former allies of fascist Germany in Europe (1946).

The scientist was a member of the Ukrainian SSR delegation at the 1st, 2nd and 4th sessions of the UN General Assembly (1946, 1947, 1949), an advisor to the USSR representative in the UN Security Council (1946).

Koretsky V. M. - the first domestic scientist to join the UN Committee on the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification (New York, 1947), and later became a member of the UN International Law Commission (New York, 1949-1951), which continued the work of the previous committee. Member and First Vice-Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights (1947-1949), whose function during this period included the development of a draft Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He was an advisor to the Ukrainian SSR delegation at the international conference on the preparation of the Convention on the Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade (Geneva, 1956), participated in the work of the Ukrainian SSR delegation at the UNESCO Conference on Peaceful Coexistence of States (Munich, 1957), headed the Ukrainian SSR delegation at the sessions of the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (New York, 1958, Geneva, 1960), was a member of the Permanent Chamber of the Court of Arbitration in The Hague (1957-1969). In 1960, at the 15th session of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, he was elected a member of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and from 1968 to 1970 - Vice-President of this Court.

The scholar was an honorary member of the Indian Society of International Law (since 1960); a corresponding member (since 1965), a full member (since 1977), and then an honorary member (since 1983) of the Institute of International Law (Ghent, Belgium);Academician of the Mexican Academy of International Law (since 1968); Corresponding Member of the Argentine Association of International Law (since 1971). Koretsky V. M. - the only legal scholar in the former USSR who was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1980).

On November 15, 1990, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR named the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine after V. M. Koretsky.

The scientist made a significant contribution to the development of legal science, primarily international private law, international public law, and comparative law.