I.

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATION
a. Definition of Conflict of Laws – Part of international law which deals with legal problems
involving foreign element concerning the conflict in the application of local and foreign laws,
raised in a proper forum.
The part of the municipal law of a state which directs its courts and administrative agencies, when
confronted with a legal problem involving a foreign element, whether or not they should apply a
foreign law/s.

b. Elements of the definition

1. Legal problem involving foreign element – if there is no foreign element, there is no
conflict of law

2. Assumption of the proper forum

3. Conflict between local and foreign law

4. Choice of law to be applied

Which law applies? - depends on the factual situation and connection of the foreign
element, apply characterization process of determining under what category a
certain set of facts or rules falls.
- Purpose - to enable the forum to select the proper law

II. WHAT THE TRIBUNALS OF THE FORM MUST DO

A. Alternative Given to Courts
“Theory through technique” – Conflicts allow us to turn a large political conflict into a narrowly tailored
and technically specific one – not to avoid or deny it but, to the contrary, to be able to address it. We do not
resolve the question of whether international law applies in all circumstances, or even whether this
international law applies in all circumstances. We seek to answer only the question of whether this
international law applies to these litigants with respect to these specific legal rights and particular dispute.

B. The Question of Jurisdiction

Conflicts law must address three principal questions. First, when a legal problem touches upon more than
one country, it must be determined which court has jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. Second, once a
court has taken jurisdiction, it must decide what law it should apply to the question before it. The rules
governing the court may direct it to apply its own law or call for the application of the law of another
country. Third, assuming that the court ultimately renders a judgment in favour of the plaintiff, conflicts
law must address the enforcement of the judgment. In the event that the defendant has insufficient assets
locally, recognition and enforcement of the judgment must be sought in a country where assets do exist.

C. Refusal to Assume Jurisdiction

- To do so would provide inconvenience to the forum
D. Assumption of Jurisdiction
1. Res
2. Subject matter
3. Person
E. Application of Internal or Domestic Law

III. THEORIES ON WHY THE FOREIGN LAW MAY IN SOME CASES BE GIVEN EFFECT
1. The Theory of Comity – foreign law is applied because of its convenience and because we want to give
protection to our citizens, residents & transients in our land
2. The Theory of Vested Rights – we seek to enforce not foreign law itself but the rights that have been
vested under such foreign law; an act done in another state may give rise to the existence of a right if the
laws of that state created such right (ex. Crimes against humanity such as piracy, genocide)
3. Theory of Local Law – adherents of this school of thought believe that we apply foreign law not because it
is foreign, but because our laws, by applying similar rules, require us to do so; hence, it is as if the foreign
law has become part & parcel of our local law
4. Theory of Harmony of Laws – theorists here insist that in many cases we have to apply the foreign laws
so that wherever a case is decided, that is, irrespective of the forum, the solution should be approximately
the same; thus, identical or similar solutions anywhere and everywhere. When the goal is realized, there
will be “harmony of laws”.
5. Theory of Justice – the purpose of all laws, including conflicts of laws, is the dispensing of justice; if this
can be attained in many cases applying the proper foreign law, we must do so
6. Right Theory – recognizing the right of the people

IV. THE NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF CONFLICT RULES

1. Nature of Foreign Judgments – procedural in nature
- The Philippines is not a party to any bilateral or multilateral treaty for the recognition and
enforcement of foreign judgments. Philippine case law, however, recognises that recognition and
enforcement of foreign judgments are generally accepted principles of international law because
of widespread practice and the embodiment of procedures for recognition and enforcement of
foreign judgments in the rules of law, whether statutory or jurisprudential, adopted in foreign
jurisdictions, and considers as an established international legal principle ‘that final judgments of
foreign courts are reciprocally respected and rendered efficacious subject to certain conditions
that vary in different countries’

2. Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgment

- A foreign judgment is recognized when it is given the same effect that it has in the state where it was
rendered with respect to the parties, the subject matter of the action and the issues involved. Where the
foreign judgment is being presented as a defense to the claim of the plaintiff, what is involved is the
recognition of a foreign judgment.
- A foreign judgment is enforced when, in addition to being recognized, a party is given affirmative
relief to which the judgment entitles him. When a plaintiff asks the court of one state to carry out and
make effective a judgment obtained by him in another state, what is involved is the enforcement of a
foreign judgment.

3. Reasons of Recognition
4. Conditions and Requisites before Recognition
1. (Proof of Foreign Judgment) Foreign Judgment was rendered by a judicial or a quasi-
judicial tribunal which had competent jurisdiction over the parties and the case in the
proper judicial proceedings in which the defendant shall have be given reasonable
notice and the opportunity to be heard.
2. It must be a judgment on civil and commercial matters.
3. The judgment must be valid according to the court that delivered it.
4. Judgment must be final and executory to constitute res judicata in another action
5. Provisions of the Rules of Court on Foreign Judgments (Rule 59, section 50)
- Under the Rules of Court, in case a judgment against a specific thing, the judgment is conclusive upon
the title of the thing.
- In case of a judgment against a person, the judgment is presumptive evidence of a right as between the
parties and their successor-in-interest by a subsequent title; but the judgment may be repelled by
evidence of want of jurisdiction, want of notice for the party, collusion, or clear mistake of law or fact.