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22 - Introduction to choice of law

from PART V - CHOICE OF LAW

Trevor C. Hartley
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

Why apply foreign law?

Why should a court apply foreign law? It might be imagined that everything could be satisfactorily decided under its own law. A moment's thought, however, reveals that there are at least some situations in which foreign law has to be applied. Take the case of two people, a man and a woman, who have lived all their lives in country X. They are citizens of that country and are domiciled there. They marry there, taking care to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the local law. If, many years later, they go to country Y on a visit, it would be monstrous if their marriage was not recognized because they had not complied with the formalities laid down by the law of country Y.

Marriage is a status, but it is not only in this case that foreign law has to be applied. Think of a testator who makes his will according to what appears to be the only relevant law. It would again be monstrous if a foreign country refused to recognize the will because it did not comply with its own law. Or take the case of a person who ensures that his actions are lawful under what appears to be the only relevant law. Would it be right if a court in another country held that he had committed a tort because what he did would have been a tort under its law?

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International Commercial Litigation
Text, Cases and Materials on Private International Law
, pp. 503 - 529
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Introduction to choice of law
  • Trevor C. Hartley, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: International Commercial Litigation
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808739.023
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  • Introduction to choice of law
  • Trevor C. Hartley, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: International Commercial Litigation
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808739.023
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

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  • Introduction to choice of law
  • Trevor C. Hartley, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: International Commercial Litigation
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808739.023
Available formats
×