NORTH EASTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Law
Tandag City, Surigao del Sur

CONFLICT OF LAWS
1st Semester, Academic Year 2022-2023

ATTY. JEFFERSON C. SECILLANO

Professorial Lecturer

SYLLABUS

IDENTIFICATION:

Subject Code: Law 306

Credit: 2 units
Hours: 2 hours
Schedule: Tuesday, 7:15 PM - 9:15 PM

DESCRIPTION:

This subject will introduce students to cases, laws and doctrines that deal with legal scenarios where laws of various states might apply and interact,
with focus on the choice of law, problems in jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

COVERAGE:

SUBJECT COVERAGE DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS

I. Introduction 1) What give rise to conflict of laws?
→ There is a conflict of laws when there is a situation wherein a state is confronted with legal problem involving foreign
element and there’s a need to determine whether the state would apply either the foreign law or municipal law
involving the foreign elements.
2) What could be those underlying factor why there are instances or situation that laws of different stated conflict
against each other, that give rise to the conflict of law situation?
→ Conflict of laws arises due to diversity of laws, their manner of application and interpretation among different legal
systems owing to the fact that each state in the exercise of its sovereignty promulgates its own laws and develop its
own jurisprudence which may also be influenced by diversity of religion, culture, beliefs, and custom. For example,
the great majority of the country of the world would allow absolute divorve. In the Phippines, we still have not
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
A. Definition of Conflict of Laws
→ 3 Waysof Solving Conflict of Laws
Problem
B. Object, Function and Scope of
Conflict of Laws
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
legalized it. Also, while some countries are very liberal in granting divorce
3)
 Conflict of laws presupposes two or more conflicting laws, between a local law and a foreign law involving a
foreignelement or elements, which requires a determination of which law should apply
 "Conflict of Laws is that part of the law of each state which determines what effect is given to the fact that the case may
have a significant relationship to more than one state."
 A difference between the laws of different states or countries in a case in which a transaction or occurrence central to the
case has a connection to two or more jurisdictions. – Often shortened to conflict. Cf. Choice of law.
 The body of jurisprudence that undertakes to reconcile such differences or to decide what law is to govern in these
situations; the principles of choice of law. – Often shortened to conflicts. – Also termed (in international contexts) private
international law; international private law."
"Reason for the Rules of Conflict of Laws:
 "The world is composed of territorial states having separate and differing systems of law. Events and transactions occur,
and issues arise, that may have a significant relationship to more than one state, making necessary a special body of
rules and methods for their ordering and resolution."
1. Court might refuse to hear the case and dismiss it on ground of
lack of jurisdiction or forum non conveniens
2. Court might decide the case by its own local law
3. Court might decide the case by special rules formulated to
address the problem
 Is to provide rational and valid rules or guidelines in deciding
cases not only by courts but also by administrative agencies and
public officers who are called upon to act on a given situation
where either or all the parties, event or transaction are linked to
more than one jurisdiction

FUNCTIONS
 According to Paras:
1. the determination of which country has jurisdiction
2. the applicability to a particular case of either the local or the
foreign law
3. the determination of the force, validity and effectiveness of a
foreign judgment
 According to Coquia:
1. to proscribe the conditions under which a court or agency is
competent to entertain a suit or proceeding involving facts
containing a foreign element;
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
C. Distinction with Public International
Law
D. Brief Historical Development of
Conflict of Laws
E. Sources of Conflict of Laws
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
2. to determine the extent, validity and enforceability of foreign
judgment;
3. to determine for each class of cases the particular system if
law by reference to which the rights of the parties must be
ascertained
PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
BASIS PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
(CONFLICT OF LAW)
1. As to nature Municipal in character International in character
2. As to persons Dealt by private individuals Parties involved are sovereign states and
involved other entities possessed of an international
personality
3. As to transactions Transactions are private one between private Transactions are entered into which
involved individuals generally affect public interest; those which
in general are of interest only to sovereign
states
4. As to remedies or Resort to Municipal Tribunals Remedies may be peaceful or forcible
sanctions
 In Ancient Rome, it presented a fertile place for the development of “conflict rules” because two legal systems were in
vogue: Roman citizens were governed by the civil law of Rome; all others were under the jurisdiction of their own
provincial legislation -- how easily, therefore, “conflict” theories could have arisen. But the theories did not come for only
one law prevailed whenever a Roman citizen was involved, namely, Roman civil law. However, there were two incidental
developments – the concept of domicile and the concept of lex situs – ( where the immovables were concerned. )
 In 212 A.D., the Edict of Caracalla conferred Roman citizenship on all the people living within the Roman Empire:
consequently only one law remained – the civil law of Rome – for any and all acts, events, and transactions within the
Empire. Law was, thus, placed on territorial without personal or racial discrimination.
 In the 5th century, the Roman Empire was overthrown by the socalled “barbarian tribe”: personal law replaced territorial
law. This simply means that every person, regardless of residence, was considered subject to the law of his original
nation or tribe. If the parties to a contract came from different nations, the law of the debtor prevailed – for it was then
believed that his interest were paramount.
1. Indirect sources
→ Natural moral law
→ Works of writers
2. Direct sources
→ Constitutions
→ Codifications
→ special laws
→ treatises and international conventions
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
F. Phases in Conflicts Resolution
1. Hasegawa v. Kitamura, G.R. No.
149177, Nov. 23, 2007
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
→ judicial decisions
→ international customs such as lex situs, lex loci
celebrationis, lex
→ ationalii/domicilii, territoriality, generality
There are three phases in the resolution of a conflicts of law
problem. These phases are:
1) Jurisdiction
2) Choice of Law
3) Recognition and enforcement of judgments.
 Jurisdiction – concerns the authority of a court of law to take
cognizance of a case
 Choice of law – refers to the applicable law to the problem
 Recognition and enforcement – concerns the enforcement of
foreign laws and judgments in another jurisdiction.
These phases are important for purposes of determining the
applicable theories of law as well as the defenses available thereto.
These three phases are separate from each other and a defense in
one phase is not a defense in other phases.
FACTS:
→ Petitioner Nippon Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. (“Nippon”) entered into an Independent Contractor Agreement
(“ICA”) with respondent Minoru Kitamura, a Japanese national permanently residing in the Philippines. The agreement
provided that respondent shall extend professional services to Nippon for a year starting on April 1, 1999. Nippon then
assigned the respondent to work as the project manager in various projects in the Philippines.
→ On February 28, 2000, petitioner’s general manager, Kazuhiro Hasegawa, informed respondent that the company would
no longer be renewing his ICA and that his services would be utilized only until March 31, 2000. Nipon insisted that
respondent’s contract was for a fixed term that has already expired.
→ Respondent subsequently sued petitioners for specific performance and damages with the Regional Trial Court of Lipa
City. Petitioners moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, asserting that the claim for improper pre-
termination of respondent’s ICA could only be heard and ventilated in the proper courts of Japan following the principles
of lex loci celbrationis and lex contractus. The lower court denied the motion to dismiss, a decision which was affirmed
by the Court of Appeals (“CA”). The CA held that the principle of lex loci celebrationis was not applicable to the case,
because nowhere in the pleadings was the validity of the written agreement put in issue. The CA upheld the lower
court’s application of the principle of lex loci solutionis.
ISSUE:
→ Whether the subject matter jurisdiction of Philippine courts in civil cases may be assailed on the principles of lex loci
celebrationis, lex contractus, the state of the most significant relationship rule, or forum non conveniens?
HELD:
→ No. They are improper grounds for questioning the jurisdiction of Philippine courts.
 SUBJECT COVERAGE DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
→
II. Jurisdiction
II. Definition  Authority of a tribunal to hear and decide a case and possible
enforceability in foreign states, subject to the rights of said
states (Paras)
 In international law, it is often defined as the right of a State to
exercise authority over persons and things within its boundaries,
subject to certain exceptions
JUDICIAL JURISDICTION VERSUS LEGISLATIVE
JURISDICTION (Coquia)
 Judicial Jurisdiction is the power or authority of a court or
administrative tribunal to try a case, render judgment and
execute it in accordance with law
 Legislative Jurisdiction which is the power of the state to
promulgate laws and regulations and enforce them on all
persons and property within its territory
FOUR MAJOR QUESTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED IN CONFLICT
OF LAWS PROBLEM
1. Has the court jurisdiction over the person of the defendant or
over his property
2. Has the court jurisdiction over the subject matter, usually
referred to as “competency”
3. Has the suit been brought in the proper venue in cases where a
foreign element is involved and
4. Is there a statute or doctrine under which a court otherwise
qualified to try the case may or may not refuse to entertain it
5. Kinds
1. Jurisdiction over the Subject  is conferred by law and defined as the authority of a court to
Matter hear and decide cases of the general class to which the
proceedings in question belong
 acquired through the allegations in the petition or complaint,
read together with the proper jurisdictional law, that will confer
jurisdiction on the court
CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIONS (as to object)
1. Action in personam – any judgment that the court will render in
that case binds only the parties to the action and their privies or
their successors-in-interest;
2. Action in rem – any judgment that the court will render in the
case binds not only the parties to the case but the whole world
3. Quasi in rem action – quasi in rem is actually in personam
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
2. Jurisdiction over the Person
3. Jurisdiction over the Res
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
because it is directed only against a particular individual but the
purpose of the proceeding is to subject his property to the
obligation of lien burdening it. The object of the case is the sale
or other disposition of property of the defendant which one may
have a right or lien over the property
→ Example: an action to subject certain property of the
defendant to payment of a claim. An action between parties
where the direct object is to reach and dispose of property
owned by them, or of some interest therein
 is the power of the court to render judgment that will be binding
on the parties involved: the plaintiff and defendant (Paras)
 Acquired through
→ Plaintiff - institution of action by proper pleading
→ Defendant - voluntary appearance or by the coercive power
of legal process exerted over the person (Paras)
 Jurisdiction over the person of the plaintiff is acquired from
the moment he invokes the aid of the court and voluntarily
submits himself by institution of the suit through proper
pleadings
 Jurisdiction over the person of the defendant is acquired
through voluntary appearance or personal or substituted service
of summons (Coquia)
 is the subject matter of litigation results either from the seizure of
the property under a legal process or from the institution of legal
proceedings wherein the court’s power over the property is
recognized and made effective
 this kind of jurisdiction is referred to as in rem jurisdiction.
Another form of jurisdiction is quasi in rem jurisdiction which
affects only the interests of particular persons in the thing
NOTE: Summons of publication is effective in the following cases –
→ if the action is in rem
→ quasi in rem
→ involves personal status of plaintiff
MINIMUM CONTACTS TEST AND FUNDAMENTAL FAIRNESS
TEST
 Due process requires only that in order to subject a defendant to
a judgment in personam, is he is not present within the territory
of the forum, he should have certain minimum contacts with it
such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
a. De Pedro v. Romasan Dev. Corp.,
G.R. No. 194751, Nov. 26, 2014
b. Gomez v. Court of Appeals, G.R.
No. 127692, Mar. 10, 2004
c. Banco de Brasil v. Court of
Appeals, G.R. Nos. 121576-78,
June 16, 2000
d. Service of Summons
1.Sec. 5-18, Rule 14 of the Rules of
Court
2.Licaros v. Licaros, G.R. No.
150656, Apr. 29, 2003
D. Ways of Dealing with a Conflicts
Problem
1. Dismiss the Case
a) Forum Non Coveniens
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
notions of fair play and substantial justice
 In both in rem and quasi-in rem actions, all that due process
required is that defendant be given adequate notice and
opportunity to be heard which are met by service of summons
by publication
LONG-ARM STATUTES
 statutes which specify the contacts which jurisdiction will be
asserted over a defendant outside of state territory
WAYS OF DEALING WITH A CONFLICTS PROBLEM / WAYS OF
DISPOSING CONFLICTS CASES
1. Dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction
2. Dismiss the case on the ground of Forum Non-Conveniens
3. Assume jurisdiction and apply the forum law
Effect of absence or presence of Jurisdiction (Paras)
1. when a court is without jurisdiction, it has no alternative except
to dismiss the case for being null and void due to lack of due
process
2. if a tribunal possesses jurisdiction, it may:
a. refuse to assume jurisdiction on the ground of forum non
convenience or
b. assume jurisdiction, in which case it may: - apply the
internal law of the forum (lex fori) or - apply proper foreign
(lex causae)
→ Forum non conveniens simply means that the forum is not
convenient. It may be that the chosen forum, or the place where
the suit is filed, has no substantial connection to the parties or to
the dispute that it becomes very inconvenient to litigate the suit
in the dispute that it becomes very inconvenient to ligitate the
SUBJECT COVERAGE
→ The Manila Hotel Corp. v. NLRC,
G.R. No. 120077, Oct. 13, 2000
→ Puyat v. Zabarte, G.R. No.
141536, Feb. 26, 2001
→ Philippine National Construction
Corp. v. Asiavest Merchant
Bankers (M) Berhad, G.R. No.
172301, Aug. 19, 2015
→ Saudi Arabian Airlines v.
Rebesencio, G.R. No. 198587,
Jan. 14, 2015
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
suit in the chosen venue.
DISMISS THE CASE ON THE GROUND OF FORUM NON-
CONVENIENS
→ refusal of assume jurisdiction because it would prove
inconvenient for the forum
→ a forum may resist imposition upon its jurisdiction even when
jurisdiction is authorized by law on the ground that the forum is
inconvenient or the ends of justice would be best served by trial
in another forum or the controversy may be more suitably tried
elsewhere (Doctrine of Forum Non-Conveniens)
ELEMENTS:
a. the forum state is one to which the parties may conveniently
resort to;
b. it is in a position to make an intelligent decision as to the law
and the facts; and
c. it has or is likely to have power to enforce its decision
MANIFESTATIONS:
→ the witnesses and evidence may not be readily available
→ the court dockets of the forum may already be clogged; to permit
additional cases would inevitably hamper the speedy
administration of justice
→ the evils of forum-shopping ought to be curbed
→ the forum has no particular interest in the case
→ In Saudi Arabian Airlines v. CA,29 "the foreign element
consisted in the fact that private respondent Morada is a
resident Philippine national, and that petitioner SAUDIA is a
resident foreign corporation. Also, by virtue of the employment of
Morada with the petitioner SAUDIA as a flight stewardess,
events did transpire during her many occasions of travel across
national borders, particularly from Manila, Philippines to Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, and vice versa, that caused a 'conflicts' situation
 SUBJECT COVERAGE DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
to arise.
→ From the standpoint of the Philippines, in cases filed in the
country, the foreign element may consist of: (1) a Philippine
citizen or resident of the country, in relation to a foreign national
or entity or to acts done or events that occurred in a foreign
country or property situated therein; or (2) property located in the
Philippines or acts done or events that took place in the
Philippines involving a foreign national or entity and a citizen of
this country. In short, the foreign element invariably includes a
citizen or resident of Philippines, whether natural or juridical.
2. Assume Jurisdiction ASSUME JURISDICTION AND APPLY THE FORUM LAW
→ As a general rule, no rule of Private International Law would be
violated if the courts should decide to dispose cases, according
to the internal law of the forum
→ EXCEPT: where a foreign, sovereign, diplomatic, official or
public vessel or property of another state is involved, or where a
state has by treaty, accepted limitations upon its jurisdiction over
certain persons of things
a. Factors for Application of Internal INSTANCES WHEN INTERNAL / DOMESTIC LAW SHOULD BE
Law APPLIED:
1. when a specific law of the forum expressly provides or
decrees in its conflict rules that internal law should apply
→ Examples:
a. Article 16 of the Civil Code – real and personal property
subject to the law of the country where they are situated and
testamentary succession governed by lex nationalii
b. Article 829 of the Civil Code – makes revocation done
outside the Philippines valid according the law of the place
where will was made or lex domicilii
c. Article 819 of the Civil Code – prohibits Filipinos from
making joint wills even if valid in foreign country
2. when the proper foreign law has not been properly pleaded
and proved
→ NOTE: as a general rule, courts do not take judicial notice of
foreign laws must be pleaded and proved
→ The following actions may be resorted in case of failure to prove
and plead the proper foreign law
a. Dismiss the case for inability to establish cause of action
b. Assume that the foreign law of the same as the law of the
forum (processual presumption)
 SUBJECT COVERAGE
b. Proof of Foreign Law
c. Exception to Proof of Foreign
Law
DEFINITION/EXPLANATION NOTES FROM CLASS DISCUSSIONS
c. Apply the law of the forum
3. when the case involves any of the exceptions to the
application of the proper foreign law as when the foreign
law is
a. contrary to an important public policy of the forum
b. penal in nature
c. procedural in nature
d. purely fiscal and administrative in nature
e. application of the foreign law may work undeniable injustice
to the citizens of the forum
f. the case involves real or personal property situated in the
forum
g. contrary to good morals
h. application might endanger the vital interest of the state
 Foreign Law must be properly pleaded and proved
 a foreign law which must be proved as a fact and in the absence
of such proof it is considered as the same as ours
 A foreign law must be properly pleaded and proved as a fact,
otherwise, our courts will presume that the foreign law is the
same as our internal law
1. Written Law (Constitution, Statute)
→ Official publication thereof or
→ By a copy attested by the officer having the legal custody of
the record, or by his deputy and accompanied with a
certificate that such officer has custody
2. Unwritten Law (Constitution, Statute)
→ Oral testimony of expert witnesses or
→ By printed and published books of reports of decisions of
the country involved, if proved to be commonly admitted in
such courts; (Rule 132 of the ROC)