Conflict of Laws

that branch of jurisprudence, arising from the diversity of the laws of different nations, states or
jurisdictions, in their application to rights and remedies, which reconciles the inconsistency; or
decides which law or system is to govern in the particular case, or settles the degree of force to be
accorded to the law of another jurisdiction, (the acts or rights in question having arisen under it)
either where it varies from the domestic law, or where the domestic law is silent or not exclusively
applicable to the case in point."

Public international law, or the law of nations

which regulates the political intercourse of nations with each other or concerns questions of rights
between nations

Private international law, or conflict of laws

which regulates the comity of states in giving effect in one to the municipal laws of another relating to
private persons, or concerns the rights of persons within the territory and dominion of one state or
nations, by reason of acts, private or public, done within the dominion of another, and which is based
on the broad general principle that one country will respect and give effect to the laws of another so
far as can be done consistently with its own interests.

treaty has two aspects

as an international agreement between states, and as a municipal law for the peoples of each state to
observe in their contractual and other relations

Other terms

Foreign element. — A factual situation that cuts across territorial lines and is thus affected by the
diverse laws of two or more states is said to contain a "foreign element." The forms in which the
foreign element are many. The element may simply consist in the fact that one of the parties to a
contract is an alien or has a foreign domicile, or that a contract between nationals of one or different
states refers to properties situated in another state or that the status, condition, or capacity of one
person is involved in a case.

Comity. — Comity has been defined as the recognition which one state allows within its territory to
the legislative, executive, or judicial acts of another state, having due regard both to international
duty and convenience and to the rights of its own citizens or of other persons who are under the
protection of its laws.

lex situs!— The applicable law regarding the acquisition, .transfer an i devolution of the title to
property is the law where the property is located.

Lex fori — The law of the forum, where the case is filed. The term is used in contract of denoting the
law of_the place where a transaction took place or where the wrong causing damage or "injury
occurred

Lex loci actus — The law of the place where the act was . done

Lex loci celebrationis — The law of the place where a contract is entered into

Lex loci contractus- The test to determine the proper law of the contract would appear to be the
system of law with which the transaction has the closest and most real connection

Lex loci delictus — The law of the place where the offense or wrong took place

Lex loci dimicillii — The law of the place of domicile of a person

Lex loci rei sitae; lex situs — The law of the place where a thing is situated. In actions relating to
recovery of land, the rule is that the action is governed by the law of the place where the land is
located.

Kilberg doctrine — In conflict of laws, it is. a rule, to the effect that the forum is not bound by the law
of the place of injury or death as to the limitation on damages for wrongful act because such rule is
procedural and hence the law of the forum governs on this issue

"Center of gravity doctrine." — "Choice of law problems in conflict of laws are resolved by the
application of the law of the jurisdiction which has the most significant relationship to or .contact with
event and parties to litigation and the issue therein. Term is used synonymously with the most
significant relationship theory.” It is also known as "grouping of contacts.

Conflict of laws essentially involves two remedies.

1. , the enforcement of rights that accrued completely or partly in a foreign country in the form of
action filed in Philippine courts by a citizen or an aggrieved person; and

2. the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgment, in the form of a petition or complaint to
enforce such foreign judgment filed in Philippine courts by the prevailing party.
(The recognition or enforcement of foreign judgment is also based on comity, subject to qualifications
prescribed in Section 48 of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court.)

The law of the country where the right was acquired or the liability was incurred will govern
as to the right of action;
while the law of the country where the action is filed with govern as to all that pertain to the
remedy.

Foreign laws are independent of, and are not superior than, Philippine laws, and they cannot be
forced upon Philippine courts, except by consent, express or implied.

Foreign judgments or those rendered in a foreign country may be sought recognition and
enforcement in our the country, by an appropriate petition filed before Philippine courts,

the prevailing party voluntarily submits itself to the jurisdiction of Philippine courts and to the power
or authority of the latter to review the foreign judgment by either ordering its enforcement or
rejecting enforcement by evidence of want of jurisdiction, want of notice to the party, fraud,
collusion, and clear mistake of law or fact.

Conflict of laws presupposes conflict.

Conflict of laws assumes that there is a conflict between a local law and a foreign law involving a
foreign element or elements, which requires a determination of which law should apply.

Where there is no conflict or where the conflict is merely apparent than real or where the case
involves no foreign element, then there is no conflict of laws situation, even if there is a
foreign element involved.

When local law is applicable

Where the case involves no foreign element and the local laws applicable on the matter are
conflicting, courts resolve them,
firstly, by reconciling the two or more laws, if at all possible; or
secondly, if they cannot be reconciled, by considering one law as having been impliedly
repealed by the later statute; or
thirdly, by excepting one law from the operation of the other, and on the basis thereof, decide
the case
If reconciliation of the conflicting foreign and local laws is impossible, the court will not
consider the foreign law as null and void or unconstitutional,

The court will resolve the conflict either by making exceptions from the operation of the
foreign law or by not applying the foreign law at all for being contrary to law, public policy,
or good customs of the forum, and decide the case on the basis of its own laws.

Foreign element in conflict of laws situation.

The presence of foreign element in a case determines the existence of a conflict of laws situation.
Where there is no foreign element, no conflict of laws exists.

Three ways of dealing with conflict of laws cases.

First, the court might refuse to hear the case and dismiss it;
second, the court might decide the case by its own local law; and
third, special rules might be devised to deal with the case in a manner designed to promote the
smooth function of the international and interstate systems and to do justice to the parties.

If the court has no jurisdiction, it has no choice but to dismiss the case on such ground, as it
has no authority to decide the case.

Chapter 2: Choice of Law

As a rule, the choice between a substantive foreign law and the substantive local law of the
country where the case is filed, as it is settled that the procedural steps and requirements of
the law of the latter, relative to the filing and enforcement of the cause of action are followed.

Foreign law has no extraterritorial effect; exceptions.

a foreign law may have no extraterritorial effect in the Philippines, except when there has been
consent, express(law) or implied(commity)

Characterization and points of contacts or connecting factors.

characterization," or the "doctrine of qualification
It is the process of deciding whether or not the facts relate to the kind of question specified in
a conflicts rule. The purpose of characterization is to enable the court of the forum to select
the proper law.

In a conflict of laws situation, a court must determine at the outset whether the problem presented
to it is for the solution relates to torts, contracts, property, or some other field, or to a matter of
substance or procedure, in order to refer to the appropriate law

EPNs: Law in Situs(must follow where the property is located)

An essential element of conflicts rules is the indication of a "test" or "connecting factor" or

"point of contact
1. The nationality of a person, his domicile, his residence, his place of sojourn, or his origin;
2. The seat of a legal or juridical person, such as a corporation;
3. The situs of a thing, that is, the place where a thing is or is deemed to be situated. In
particular, the lex situs is decisive when real rights are involved;
4. The place where an act was been done, the locus actus, such as the place where a contract
has been made, or marriage celebrated, a will signed or tort committed. The lex loci actus is
particularly important in contracts and torts;
5. The place where an act is intended to come into effect, e.g., the place of performance of
contractual duties, or the place where a power of attorney is to be exercised;
6. The intention of the contracting parties as to the law that should govern their agreement,
the lex loci intentionis;
7. The place where judicial or administrative proceedings are instituted or done. The lex fori —
the law of the forum — is particularly important because matters of procedure not going to the
substance of the claim involved are governed by it; and because the lex fori applies whenever
the content of the otherwise applicable foreign law is excluded from application in a given
case for the reason that it falls under one of the exceptions to the applications of foreign law;
and
8. The flag of ship, which in many cases is decisive of practically all legal relationships of the
ship and of the master or owner of such. It also covers contractual relationship particularly
contracts of affreightment.

Choice of applicable law, generally.

The choice-of-applicable law seeks to answer two important questions:
(1) What legal system should control a given situation where some of the significant facts
occurred in two or more states, and
(2) to what extent should the chosen legal system regulate the situation.

Choice-of-Law Principles.
(1) A court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own
state on choice of law.
(2) When there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the choice of the applicable rule
of law include:
(a) the needs the interstate and international systems,
(b) the relevant policies of the forum,
(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those
states in the determination of the particular issue,
(d) the protection of justified expectations,
(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,
(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of re sult, and
(g) case in the determination and application of the law to be applied.

Law of the State Chosen by the Parties.

(1) The law of the State chose by the parties to govern their contractual rights and duties will
be applied if the particular issue is one which the parties could have resolved by an explicit
provision in their agreement directed to that issue.
(2) The law of the state chosen by the parties to govern their contractual rights and duties
will be applied, even if the particular issue is one which the parties could not have resolved
by an explicit provision in their agreement directed to that issue, unless either.
(a) the chosen state has no substantial relationship to the parties or the transaction
and there is no other reasonable basis for the parties' choice, or
(b) application of the law of the chosen state would be contrary to a fundamental
policy of a state which has materially greater interest than the chosen state in the
determination of particular issue and which, under the rule of §188, would be the state of
the applicable law in the absence of an effective choice of law by the parties.

(3) In the absence of a contrary indication of intention, the reference is to the local law of
the state of the chosen law."

“Art. 15. Laws relating to family right and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity
of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad."

1. domiciliary rule which makes the domicile of the person as the determining factor
2. nationality rule, which makes the citizenship or nationality of the person as basis for
determining his personal law
"Art. 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where
it is situated. (lex loci or lex loci rei sitae.)

However, intestate and testamentary succession, both with respect to the order of succession
and .to the amount of successional rights and to intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions,
shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration,
whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country wherein said
property may be found." (makes the diplomatic or consular offices of the Philippines abroad
as extension of the Philippine territory. )

"Art. 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be
governed by the law of the country in which they are executed. (lex contractus)

When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials of the
Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established by Philippine
laws shall be observed in their execution.

Where Philippine law is silent on any given case, Philippine courts are not justified
to extend the force and effect of foreign law,
i.e., American statute, to our jurisdiction. To do so would be to incorporate into our
statutes the foreign law by judicial ruling which is beyond the authority of the courts to do.
EPNS:
A. when the Philippine legislature, by law, has given its consent to the extension of a specific
foreign law to the Philippines
B. when Congress enacts a law adopting or copying a specific foreign statute.
C. borrowing statute is a statute which directs the court of the forum to apply the foreign
statute to the pending claims based on a foreign law.(Section 48 of the Code of Civil
Procedure, which is still in force and which provides that if by the law of the state or country
where the cause of action arose, the action is barred, it is also barred in the Philippines)

Agreement by parties; it cannot cover jurisdiction.

The parties to a contract may stipulate as to the applicable foreign law to govern their dispute
arising from the contract.

One basic principle underlies all rules of jurisdiction in International Law: a State does not
have jurisdiction in the absence of some reasonable basis for exercising it, whether the
proceedings are in rem, quasi in rem or in personam.

To be reasonable, the jurisdiction must be based on some minimum contacts that will not
offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice

In International Law, jurisdiction is often defined as the right of a State to exercise authority
over persons and things within its boundaries subject to certain exceptions.

Where there is no agreement as to applicable law.

(1) The rights and duties of the parties with respect to an issue in contract are determined by
the local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant
relationship to the transaction and the parties under the principle stated in §6.
(2) In the absence of an effective choice of law by the parties (see §187), the contacts to be
taken into account in applying the principles of §6 to determine the law
applicable to an issue include:
(a) the place of contracting,
 (b) the place of negotiation of the contract,
(c) the place of performance,
(d) the location of the subject matter of the contract, and
(e) the domicile, residence, nationality, place of incorporation and place of business
of the parties.
(3) If the place of negotiating the contract and the place of performance are in the same state,
the local law of this state will usually be applied, exception as otherwise provided in §§189-
203."

Applicable foreign law determined by rules of conflict of laws.

In the absence of any local law directing the court to apply a foreign law, the principles often
applied in determining what law should govern the resolution by the court of a conflict-of-law
case filed in the forum include:
.
(1) substance versus procedural distinction, The general rule is that all matters of procedure
are governed by the law of the forum, where the case is filed, while matters of substance are
governed by the law of the country where the cause of action arose
(2) center of gravity(grouping-of-contacts) applied in contracts and torts; resolved by the
application of the law of the jurisdiction- which has the most significant relationship to or
contact with event and parties to litigation and the issue therein.
(a) the place where the injury occurred;
(b) the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred;
(c) the domicile, residence, nationality, place of in corporation, and place of business of the
parties; and
(d) the place where the relationship, if any, between the parties is centered
(3) renvoi, (table tennis theory) adopts rules of foreign country as to conflict of law, which rule
may in turn refer to back to law of the forum. Par. 2, Art 16 NCC
"If there is no law to the contrary, in the place where personal property is situated, it is
deemed to follow the person of its owner, and is governed by the law of his domicile."

The renvoi doctrine is usually pertinent where the decedent is a national of one country, and a
domicile of another.

(4) lex fori, The law of the forum, or court; that is, the positive law of the country or
jurisdiction of whose judicial system the court where the suit is brought or remedy sought is
an integral part.
and
(5) place of most significant relations,

Other theories in the choice of law are:

German rule of elective concurrence. —the place of tort is whenever an essential part of the tort
has been committed. And the injured person may choose to sue in either of the places, which
to him is most advantageous to his claim.
The State-interest analysis. — In applying which law applies, the court takes into account the
interest of the state in issue, not only as a sovereign in a set of facts or an entity but as a
repository of justice
Caver's principle. — Where there is no conflict of law rules in the forum, the court applies
general principles to arrive at just solutions by accommodating conflicting policies and
affording fair treatment of the parties caught in the conflict between state policies

Borrowing of law
A law on prescription of actions is sui generis in Conflict of Laws in the sense that it may be viewed
either as procedural or substantive, depending on the characterization given such a law.

the characterization of a statute into a procedural or substantive law becomes irrelevant when
the country of the forum has a "borrowing statute." Said statute has the practical effect of
treating the foreign statute of limitation as one of substance

Conflict between foreign law and local law; the latter prevails.
In a long line of decisions, this Court adopted the well-embedded principle in our jurisdiction
that there is no judicial notice of any foreign law. A foreign law must be.,properly pleaded
and proved as a fact. Thus, if the foreign law involved is not properly pleaded and proved,
our courts will presume that the foreign law is the same as our local or domestic or internal
law.(doctrine of processual presumption.)

Thus, when the foreign law, judgment or contract is contrary to a sound and established
public policy of the forum,the said foreign law, judgment or order shall not be applied.

Exceptions to application of foreign law.

1. A foreign law will not be applied if it contravenes prohibitive law or public policy of the
forum.
2. when agreement contravenes the prohibitive law or the public policy of the forum.
3. Article 16 of the Civil Code provides that "Real property as well as personal property is
subject to the law of the country where it is situated." This provision embodies the rule of lex
loci or lex loci re sitae.
4. When there is a conflict between a foreign law and Philippine law, the former must yield to
the latter.
5. If the rule creates a right, or takes away a right, it is substantive.
Even when a foreign law is the applicable law in a given conflict of laws case, its
application is limited only to substantive law which is the basis of the cause of action, and
does not extend to procedural law.
6. Foreign penal laws have no extraterritorial application in the Philippines

7.