In the

conflict of laws Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a Legal case, case, Transactional law, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction."Conflict o ...

, the validity and effect of a

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

with one or more foreign law elements will be decided by reference to the so-called "

proper law The doctrine of the proper law is applied in the choice of law stage of a lawsuit involving the conflict of laws. When the jurisdiction is in dispute, one or more state laws will be relevant to the decision-making process. If the laws are the s ...

" of the contract.

History

In England, until the middle of the 19th century, the

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

s generally applied the ''

lex loci contractus In contract law, the is the Law Latin term meaning "law of the place where the contract is made".''Black's Law Dictionary'' abridged Sixth Edition (1991), p. 630. It refers (in the context of conflict of laws) to resolving contractual dispute ...

'' as the proper law.

Proper law

Express selection

In England, as of 1 October 1983,J H C Morris, The Conflict of Laws, Third Edition, Stevens and Sons, London, 1984, p vii when the parties express a clear intention in a choice-of-law clause, this is generally the ''proper law''.

Implied selection

In England, as of 1 October 1983, when the parties have not used express words, their intention may be inferred from the terms and nature of the contract, and from the general circumstances of the case.

Closest and most real connection

In ''Mount Albert Borough Council v Australasian etc Assurance Society Ltd'', it was held that, in default, the court has to impute an intention by asking, as just and reasonable persons, which law the parties ought to, or would, have intended to nominate if they had thought about it when they were making the contract. But see ''The Assunzione''.

Dépeçage

Some legal systems provide that a contract may be governed by more than one law. This concept is referred to as dépeçage.J H C Morris, The Conflict of Laws, Third Edition, Stevens and Sons, London, 1984, ISBN 0-420-46890-0, p 528.

References

*Nikitas Hatzimihail. "Contracts" Preclassical Conflict of Laws. Cambridge University Press. 2021. Chapter 9.3.1
Page 285
et seq. *Wolff, "Hong Kong's Conflict of Contract Laws: Quo Vadis?" (2010) 6 Journal of Private International Law 465 * Tetley and Wilkins. International Conflict of Laws: Common, Civil, and Maritime. International Shipping Publications. 1994. Page 237. See also passim
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*Lectures on the Conflict of Laws and International Contracts. University of Michigan Law School. 1951. Passim
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*Petar Sarcevic (ed). International Contracts and Conflicts of Laws: A Collection of Essays. Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff. 1990. Passim
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* Geoffrey Chevalier Cheshire. International Contracts. Jackson, Son & Company, printers to the University. Glasgow. 1948. Passim
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*Henri Battifol. Les Conflits des Lois en Matière des Contrats: Etude de droit international privé comparé. Recueil Sirey. Paris. 1938. *Adrian Briggs. "Contracts". The Conflict of Laws. Second Edition. Oxford University Press. 2008. Chapter 5
Page 153
et seq. *Christopher M V Clarkson and Jonathan Hill. "Contractual obligations". The Conflict of Laws. Fourth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2011. Chapter 4
Page 203
et seq. * J H C Morris. "Contracts" The Conflict of Laws
Second Edition
Stevens and Sons. 1980. Chapter 13. Page 209 et seq. * Dicey. "Contracts: General Rules" and "Particular Contracts". A Digest of the Law of England with Reference to the Conflict of Laws. London. 1896. Chapters 24 and 25
Page 540
et seq. *

Joseph Story Joseph Story (September18, 1779September10, 1845) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin ...

and Isaac F Redfield. "Foreign Contracts". Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws. Sixth Edition. Little, Brown and Company. 1865
Page 290
et seq. {{DEFAULTSORT:Contract (Conflict) Conflict of laws Contract law