Conflict of Laws: Definition and Elements

• Study notes for your reference are included below.

Definition of Conflict of Laws

• Conflict of Laws guides courts and administrative bodies on whether to apply foreign law in legal problems involving a foreign element.
• It forms part of a state's municipal law, not international law.
• Philippine Conflict of Laws guides Philippine courts and agencies when foreign elements are present in a legal issue.

Elements of Conflict of Laws

• Conflict of law must be integrated into the municipal laws of a state, since each state has its own municipal law.
• Conflicts are resolved by judicial tribunals.
• Administrative agencies preliminarily decide foreign factor controversies
• A foreign element must exist to classify it as a conflicts problem.
• Solutions involve applying either local or foreign laws.
• States retain authority, allowing foreign law application by temporarily abdicating to it.

Importance of Conflict of Laws

• It helps adjust rights in international, mercantile, and corporate transactions.
• Useful in resolving issues about family, assets, and agreements with facts in different states.

Basic Cause for Conflicts Problems

• Differences in countries' municipal laws and multiple governments with separate legal structures
• Examples include wills, marriage, divorce, and taxation differ.

Scope of Functions of Conflict of Laws

• Prescribes conditions for a court to hear a suit.
• Determines the territorial law system that ascertains parties' rights for each case.
• Specifies circumstances where a foreign judgment is recognized as decisive.
• The three functions aim to determine jurisdiction, applicable law, and the force of foreign judgments.

How Conflict of Laws is Observed

• States harmonize equity rules with other nations' legislation and jurisprudence.
• Individuals observe conflict rules and comply with related judicial decisions.

Why Conflict of Laws is Observed

• States must observe it because the it forms a part of municipal law.
• People observe to avoid municipal penalties.

Names Given to the Subject

• Some designate it "Private International Law"
• Some designate it, "Conflict of Laws"
• "Conflict of Laws" may be a misnomer because resolving conflicts is its goal.

Conflict of Law vs. Law of Nations

• Conflict of Law is municipal, involving private transactions between individuals; it's remedied in municipal tribunals
• Law of Nations is international, involving sovereign states and public interests; solutions range from diplomacy to war.

Theories

• Dualist: Divides Private and Public International Law, seeing them as separate.
• Monist: Views them as identical, addressed to the individual

Sources of Conflict of Laws

• Direct sources include constitutions, codifications, special laws, treaties, judicial decisions, and international customs.
• Indirect sources include Natural Moral Law and writings of legal experts.

What the Tribunals Must Do

• Tribunals must first address jurisdiction.
• Judgments without jurisdiction are null and void due to lack of due process.
• Tribunals with jurisdiction may decline it based on "forum non conveniens"
• Assume jurisdiction and apply internal law or foreign law.
• "Jus dicere" means "right to speak", the authority to hear a case and enforce judgments, potentially abroad.
• States create legal interests recognized and enforced by other states.
• The forum ultimately determines the presence of jurisdiction.

Kinds of Jurisdiction

• Subject Matter: The court's authority to hear cases of a general class.
• It is conferred by law, found in the Constitution and Judiciary Act.
• Allegations in the petition decide jurisdiction.
• Person: The court's power to bind parties, acquired when the plaintiff files the action.

Jurisdiction on the defendant

• Voluntary appearance, but the purpose is to question the jurisdiction of the court over his person.
• Personal/Substituted service of summons
• Personal Service: Handing copy to the defendant in person
• Substituted Service: Leaving copies at the residence or office.
• Publication: In rem or quasi in rem actions, or involves the plaintiff's personal status.
• Rem: Over the subject, regardless of interest.

Effect of Vitiated Personal Service of Summons

• Vitiation by Fraud: If initiated by the plaintiff, the court lacks jurisdiction
• Vitiation by Force: Legal force validates jurisdiction, illegal force does not.

Repercussions of Submission to Jurisdiction

• Plaintiff: Subject to forum defenses (set-offs, cross-claims, etc.).
• Defendant: Bound in the same suit, including appeals, even if leaving before the final determination because of seizing to await the ruling.

Refusal to Assume Jurisdiction

• Basis: Forum non conveniens, for the inconvenience of available evidence or a clogged docket.
• The inconvenience includes evils of selecting a forum, cases that may potentially clog the docket, absence of forum interest, or better options of other courts.
• Generally applies to corporations, not individuals.

Application of the Principle

• With no connection among the plaintiff, the defendant, the cause, the action is dismissed.
• Suits between aliens better suited for foreign tribunals

Application of the Internal or Domestic Law

• When the forum's law expressly states in its conflict rules.
• If wills by aliens are revoked in the Philippines, Philippine formalities must be followed.
• Matrimonial Property Relations by The Family Code, will not apply if both spouses are alien, property contracts are elsewhere, or affect the foreign property with its requirements.

What happens if the proper foreign law has NOT been properly pleaded and proved

• Doctrine of Processual Presumption treats foreign law as domestic law if not properly presented.
• Written law: Official publication or attested copy with custodian certificate.
• Unwritten law: Expert testimony or commonly admitted books of reports.

When the Cases Involve Any of the Exceptions to the Application of the Proper Foreign Law

• Public policy is the state's will rooted in justice, morals, and traditions.
• When the foreign law, judgement, or contract is opposing sound and established public policy.
• MAN, being a rational animal, has two distinctive features; the physical and the moral. In case of conflict, the moral nature must prevail.
• In case of procedural matters, vested rights do not apply.
• Internal rules govern procedure.
• Penal laws, contracts, judgements refer to criminal statutes.

Theories on Why the Foreign Law May in Some Cases Be Given Effect

• In applying the foreign law in conflicts cases the question arises: Why apply foreign law when internal law exists?
• Comity Theory: Foreign laws are applied with convenience and to protect citizens, residents, and transients in the land.

Admissibility of the Theory of Comity

• It is not a matter of obligation or courtesy, but as recognition of legislative, executive, or judicial acts of another nation with regard to international duty, convenience, and the rights of its citizens.

Justification of the Theory of Comity

• Laws lack force outside their origin, enforcing them in another country requires "comity of nations.
• Foreign law recognition is a courtesy, not a right.

Considerations for Theory of Comity

• Comity based on reciprocity: mutual recognition of laws and judgments.
• Comity based on persuasiveness: enforcement of meritorious judgments from competent courts, even without foreign reciprocation.
• Vested Rights Theory: Rights under foreign law are enforced
• Local Laws Theory: Foreign law is applied because our laws require it.

Additional Considerations

• Harmony of Laws Theory: Foreign laws must align to provide similar solutions regardless of forum
• Justice Theory: Foreign laws applied to dispense justice

The Right Theory

Theories are applied based on courtesy, vested rights, and achieving justice.

Recognition and Enforcement Foreign Judgements

• A judgment does not have extra-territorial application.
• Recognition is being allowed a defense, justice, no separate action needed.
• Enforcement when positively carried out/made effective, requires actions. Both actions requires proof.

When Foreign Judgements Should be Recognized or Enforced in the Country

• Proof is adequate
• They are contradict with or do not contravene our established public policies; the administration of justice may not be shockingly corrupt.

Requisites Before Foreign Judgements May Be Recognized and Enforce in the Philippines

• There must be proof of the foreign judgment. The judgment must relate to a civil or commercial matter which must not be criminal matter. There need be: No lack of jurisdiction, no want of notice, no collusion, no fraud (extrinsic), no clear mistake of law or fact. The judgement must not contravene a sound and established public policy. The judgment must be RES JUDICATA in the state that rendered it.

The steps to Res Judicata

• Judgment must be final. Jurisdiction of the court rendering is over the subject matter and the parties. Judgment must be based on merits. There must be identity of parties, of subject matter and of cause of action.

Nature of Conflict Rules

• The law governs foreign-element factual situations.
• Two kinds unilateral (when local law applies) or multilateral (when foreign law applies)

Composition of Conflict Rules

• the factual situation
• the point of contact

Characterization of Conflict Rules

• Characterization is determining the category of facts or rules, based on the forum's law.
• It may depend on the forum (lex fori), foreign law (lex causae), or comparative concepts
• Characterization gives rise to the problem that legal systems may attach different meaning, there are conception other do not, and differing principles.

Steps in Characterization

1. Determination of the facts.
2. Characterization of the factual situation by assigning proven facts into a category.
3. Determination of the applicable conflicts rule, applying the conflicts rule of the forum.
4. Characterization of the point of contact or connecting factor
5. The characterization of the problem as procedural or substantive. According to the totality approach the foreign law period is included .
6. The pleading and proving of the proper foreign law.
7. The application of the proper foreign law to the problem.

Theories

• Lex Fori Theory considers its own concepts.
• Lex Causae Theory follows the foreign state's characterization.
• Autonomous Theory considers the characterization of the country.

Various Theories on Status and Capacity

• Status includes the place of the individual in society and is relatively permanent in which the state and the community are concerned.
• Capacity is the sum total of one's rights and obligations.
• Civil Code distinguishes between capacities to act or juridical.

Status Characteristics

• Conferred principally by the state not by the individual
• It is matter of public or social interest
• Social order cannot be easily terminated by concern parties.
• Said characteristics is to have a universal character: when a certain status is created by the law of one country it is GENERALLY judicially recognized all over the world - the Personal Law.

Personal Law

• It is generally understood in a wide array of ways, often based on either concepts, uniformities, and what theories are in play.

Theories in Personal Law

1. The Nationality theory
2. The Domiciliary theory
3. The Situ Theory

Nationality Theory

• Nationality is governed by the law of the person in question (PERSONAL THEORY).
• Nationality and citizenship have different meanings.
• National includes all those owing allegiance
• Nationality and citizenship are synonymous.

Defects of the Theory

1. Changes in nationality are hard to effectuate
2. Individual can be stateless.
3. Individuals can possess multiple nationalities.
4. It would not be desirable to aliens their national laws.

Two Theories in Citizenship

• Jus soli is citizenship based on place of birth.
• Jus sanguinis is citizenship determined by blood.

The Problem of Dual and Multiple Nationalities

• Citizenship is exclusively determined by each country's law.
• From a third country's viewpoint, dual citizenship may exist.
• Dual citizenship occurs by not complying to legal requirements in the country of origin, Jus soli and jus sanguinis, the Legislative Act of States and/ or the Voluntary Act of the Individual Concerned

The Problem of Stateless Individuals

• Statelessness happens by deprivation, renunciation, a released from the origin state and/ or born in a country with jus sanguinis.

When can the Declaration go Philippine Citizenship be Made

• In a petition for injunction, it is acceptable, but for reasons of doubt they would favor the government.

Citizenship of a Filipino women who Marries a Foreigner

• Prior to the 1973 Constitution: If she acquired his nationality, she Lose Philippine citizenship otherwise she remained a Filipino.
• Under the 1973 Constitution: A female citizen of the Philippines who marries an alien shall retain her Philippine citizenship, UNLESS by her act or omission she is deemed, under the law, to have renounced her citizenship.
• Under the 1987 Constitution: Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, under the law, to have renounced it.

Citizenship of a Foreign Woman who Marries a Filipino

• Prior to the MOY YA Case: Provided that She has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications for Philippine citizenship the citizen, provided that she is able to prove these facts in a proper proceedings under Sec. 15 of CA No. 473.
• Ruled after the MOY YA Case: an alien woman marrying a Filipino becomes ipso facto a Filipino provided she is not disqualified to be a citizen of the Philippines under Sec. 4 of the same law. In effect, it ruled that it is not necessary for an alien citizen to prove in a judicial proceeding that she possesses all qualification set forth in Sec. 2 and none of disqualifications under Sec. 4 of the same law.
• The Moy Ya rule applies to those marrying Filipino from birth naturalized.

The requirements for Citizens of the Phil, under the 1935, 1973 and 1987 Constitutions

• Those who have there and who elect
• Minor child born BEFORE naturalization that dwell in are or outside for country at the tome. Depending the exact origin and how citizenship applies.
• The requirements for citizen through women is dependent on the law followed if of what father and to what moment does one determine where the citizen ship applies. It can apply to those who have or has not Phil Citizenship.

Naturalization

• Naturalization is defined as gaining citizenship in another country.
• In strict the Naturalization refers to the judicial process.
• Process Attributes as a privilege laid down by Congress, not a right, available only to foreigners.

Qualifications and Disqualifications for Naturalization

• There are requirements and steps, depending on who the petitioner is and what factors or reasons have impact.
• Process if done in the wrong process and may be canceled after a period, if shown that the faults are valid.

How in General Citizenship May Be Lost

a. By substitution of a New Nationality b. By renunciation of citizenship aka Expatriation which is voluntary renunciation or abandonment of nationality and allegiance May be express or implied. c. By deprivation Exists when a person is deprived of his citizenship as a sort of punishment. d. By release Person asks the permission of his country to be freed from citizenship therein. e. By Expiration Long stay abroad. Not applicable to Filipinos.

There are specific steps to what citizenship needs to be removed

• And after such action a petitioner can reaquire.

Domiciliary Theory

• The restated theory mentions the status, condition, rights that should be followed under. There theory is what's missing defects and factors to test.
• Theory also requires the need to know the Importance and guidelines.
• Origin rules applies with types of child whether legitimate, illegitimate, adopted or are found.
• Constructive Dom. rules applies with rule following for what to follow whether adopted by and who to follow for what reasons such as marriages. Insane patients follow certain rules as well.
• In a Domicile of choice and is that with certain factors to follow.
• Domicile can be distinguishable with residency.

Domicilie Safeguards

• Constitution and Penal Safeguards

Situ Theory

• Includes certain capacity can be based between the people and if participation Is in play. It should be a theory that gives the right answers following the right protocols.

The Problem of the Renvoi

• What refers back to a said law
• Transmissions must occur. There are a few solutions to use.
• In this the importance lays in applying with Equity