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Both civil and criminal procedure may have a variety of international aspects: the plaintiff and defendant may be foreign citizens or may reside outside the country of the court (called the forum state); evidence may have to be taken in a foreign country; or, finally, a decision rendered in one country may have to be enforced in another. Growing international activities, primarily for business purposes but also of a private nature, have decisively increased the practical relevance of these international aspects of procedural law.
Legal problems arising from the international aspects of civil and criminal proceedings are a result of the multiplicity of different sets of courts and different systems of law in the world. Each nation maintains its own set of courts in complete independence of every other nation, and each nation has its own set of laws, written or unwritten. The rules and provisions that deal with the international aspects of various national legal systems are called the law of conflict of laws.
Each country's legal system reflects its society's values. As a result, national laws and the structure of domestic judicial systems vary considerably from country to country. Nevertheless, many kinds of legal situations or events, such as marriage, decedents' estates, torts, and business transactions, often are not confined to a single country or even to a single jurisdiction within a country. The courts of each involved country may claim jurisdiction over the matter, and the laws of each involved country may be applicable under certain circumstances. When such conflicts, or differences, exist, procedures need to be in place to resolve them; the term conflict of laws (sometimes also conflicts or conflicts law) describes the body of law of each country or state that is designed to resolve problems arising from the differences between legal systems. Conflict of laws is a term used primarily in the United States, Canada, and, increasingly, the United Kingdom. In most other countries (and historically in the United Kingdom), the term private international law is used. The latter term derives from the civil-law distinction between private and public law, whereby private law addresses the legal relationships between and among individuals, corporations, and even the state in its relations with individuals and corporations when it is not acting in a governmental capacity (for example, in the conclusion of contracts), while public law deals with the law governing state institutions as well as the latter's governmental—e.g., regulatory—relations with private parties. Private international law thus emphasizes the differences between national legal systems: although the term private international law may aptly describe the subject matter, it may also mislead by suggesting that there is an international body of rules to bridge differences between legal systems. This is emphatically not the case. The term conflict of laws refers primarily to rules that are solely national in origin and are explicitly not part of international law (except insofar as countries have concluded treaties concerning them).
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.
As noted above, cases of conflict of laws arise from differences between legal systems. Notable differences exist, for example, between countries with a common-law tradition and those employing civil law. In contract law, for example, civil law has no direct counterpart to the common-law requirement that a promise be supported by "consideration"—i.e., by a bargained-for exchange—in order to be binding. Similarly, the systems differ with respect to formalities that may be required for a contract (e.g., a writing). Even within the broad groups of common law and civil law, national legal systems diverge, sometimes substantially. Thus, English substantive law often differs materially from American law, though the two common-law countries share a common tradition and basic methodology. Similarly, civil-law countries differ in many respects in the solutions they provide for specific legal problems, depending on whether they belong to the Nordic, Germanic, or Roman-Franco legal family. In German law, for example, the Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) prescribes a subjective approach toward defining a merchant: it depends on the person and the purpose and manner of his actions. The French Code de Commerce adopts an objective approach: it is the particular transaction that determines which party in a transaction is the merchant. Older Swedish law focused on the definition of a merchant (köpman); newer legislative provisions employ more comprehensive concepts of those engaged in commerce (näringsidkare). Differences also surround the question of whether a good-faith purchaser can acquire title to goods that have been stolen. The legal systems of some countries (e.g., Italy and many former Soviet-bloc countries) do permit this, while those of other countries (e.g., Germany and Portugal) do not. Others (e.g., France and The Netherlands) attempt to strike a balance between the interests of the parties—for example, by allowing the original owner to recover the goods but requiring him to compensate the good-faith purchaser in some manner.
Other differences in legal and extralegal (extranational) norms may also give rise to problems of conflict of laws. The situations described above generally presuppose unitary legal systems, which may exist in countries with unitary political structures (e.g., France) and in countries organized as federations (e.g., Germany). Some federated countries, however, do not possess a uniform federal private law. In the United States, private law is, mainly, the law of the several U.S. states; American conflicts law is thus both interregional (interstate) and international, with the substantive and conflicts law of Illinois, for example, differing from that of New York, Louisiana, or Indiana; that
. Similarly, in Canada the law of Quebecdiffers
diverges from that of Ontario or Newfoundland; that
, and in Mexico the law of Chihuahua is not quite the same as that of Michoacán. In Germany and Switzerland the systems of private law are by and large uniform, but minor differences still existamong
between the laws of the various Länder (states) of Germany andamong
between those of the Swiss cantons. Also, the reunification of Germany in 1990 left some East German law in force for a transitional period. An example of the latter was the right of married couples who resided in the former East Germany to opt, within two years of the date of reunification, for the continued applicability of East German matrimonial property law.
Even in countries whose political structure isof the
unitary rather thanthe
, regional differences can be found. In the United Kingdom, for example,
considerable differences exist between the laws of England, Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Northern Ireland.
Diversity of laws develops where a country is divided, as, for example, in Korea. Where a new country is formed, or where territory is annexed, legal unity may not be brought about at the same time. After the reannexation of Alsace-Lorraine by France in 1920, for example, German private law remained in effect there for a good number of years; and when after World War I Poland was formed out of parts of old Russia, Germany, and Austria, legal uniformity was not brought about until after the end of World War II.Diversities of law within one country may also exist on an ethnic or religious basis. Such a situation has commonly existed in most countries of the Middle East; the
Significant bodies of regional law also exist alongside national private law in France, Spain, and The Netherlands. Thus, in the Alsace-Lorraine area of France, parties may still resort to concepts of German law in matters of locally applicable law (droit local), particularly when the otherwise-governing French law lacks an applicable provision. One such example involves the Handlungsgehilfe, a type of commercial agent for whom there are special rules in German law regarding continued compensation and prohibitions of competition after termination. In this case, specific articles within the local Handelsgesetzbuch apply. Similarly, associations of civil law in Alsace-Lorraine are governed by portions of the 1914 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the version of the German Civil Code in use before Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. An organization founded in 1985, the Institut de Droit Local Alsacien-Mosellan, publishes commentary on local law in books and journals such as Revue du droit local. In Spain foral (leasehold) law, rooted in medieval practices and documented in compilaciones, applies in place of the Civil Code (Código Civil) to aspects of family and succession law in many regions, particularly in Navarra, Aragón, and Basque areas. In The Netherlands there are provincial and municipal bylaws, and the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba have their own laws (staatsregeling).
Legal diversity may be based on religion or ethnicity as well as on territory. Such a situation has existed historically in many Islamic countries. In India the laws concerning matters of the family, including succession upon death,remain
are differentin India
for Hindus, Muslims,Parsees
Parsis, Buddhists, and othersects
religious groups, and in Lebanonor
and Israel they are different for Muslims, Jews, and the various groups of Christians.In the United States and Canada, American Indians are in several respects subject to their own tribal laws.
Because of the spread of Western civilization over the entire planet, the laws of modern nations present a considerable measure of similarity, at least with respect to business transactions between individuals and private enterprises. Owing to the endurance of social traditions or religious convictions that are still quite different in many parts of the world, there is much less harmony between the rules on personal status, family matters, and succession. The same is true for the rules of criminal law. In addition, economic regulations differ considerably, as is indicated by the contrasts between free-market economies and planned economies.
Wherever there is diversity of laws, be it within or between countries, rules are required that must deal with, and seek to mitigate, the consequences of that diversity. Although terminology is not uniform, in most countries these rules are generally called conflict of laws. However, within this broad field, which may cover all branches of the law, it is important to distinguish between two principal branches of the conflict of laws: private international law (dealing with civil procedure) and international criminal law.
The name private international law, which is generally used in countries of European-continental tradition, and occasionally also in the United Kingdom, seems to indicate that it is a part of international law—that is, that system of law that is superior to all sovereign states and that, at least in theory, is uniform throughout the world. This view was commonly held for many centuries, and when the name private international law was coined in the 19th century it was meant to signify that the supranational body of international law consisted of two parts, public and private international law. While the former would determine the proper conduct of sovereign nations toward each other in both peace and war, the latter would, in a uniform way, tell all nations in what cases their courts ought or ought not to take jurisdiction, under what conditions foreign judgments were to be enforced or otherwise recognized, and in what cases the laws of one nation were to be applied rather than those of another.
Since the latter part of the 19th century, however, such a view has been considered an ideal rather than a true description of reality. Today, it is generally recognized that each nation determines not only what is to be its substantive law (its law of property, contracts, torts, family relations, succession, corporations, etc.) but also in what cases its courts are to have jurisdiction, under what conditions foreign judgments are to be recognized, and which country's law is to be applied in any particular case.
As on other matters, nations may, of course, conclude treaties, bilateral or multilateral, in which they assume in relations with each other the duty to deal with certain problems in an agreed way. Treaties of such a kind have been concluded between numerous states, especially among countries of Latin America and of continental Europe. The creation of various regional associations in western and eastern Europe, in the Middle East, and in Latin America has led to the conclusion of new multilateral conventions between the member states of these unions. The United States has concluded many bilateral treaties granting substantive or procedural rights to the citizens of each contracting state within the territory of the other. The countries of the Commonwealth are parties to numerous treaties with one another and with other nations, concerning foreign judgments and mutual rights of owning, disposing, and taking of property. In those numerous areas not covered by treaties, the rules of the conflict of laws of each nation are relevant. These rules differ from country to country since each state is sovereign in fixing and amending them. Even in France, Germany, or Latin America, where the bulk of private law is contained in codes and other statutes, the statutory provisions on private international law are fragmentary, and for large parts of the field the law must be sought in the decisions of the courts. In all countries the writings of scholars have been of considerable influence.
Among the rules of private international law, three important issues of international civil procedure arise in practice: (1) the problem of jurisdiction—that is, under which circumstances a case may be brought before the courts of a particular country or province; (2) international elements in the various stages of a judicial proceeding; and (3) the recognition and enforcement of foreign judicial decisions—that is, what weight, if any, is to be given in one country or province to the judgments and decisions of the courts of other countries or provinces.Jurisdiction
If a person wishes to bring a civil lawsuit against another, he might conceivably bring the action in any country of the world. If, however, a citizen and resident of the United States, for example, were to sue a citizen and resident of Canada in Panama, a judgment obtained in Panama would be of no use to him unless the Canadian owned property in Panama that, if he did not pay, the U.S. citizen might attach there, or if the Panamanian judgment could be enforced in such other country or countries in which he happened to hold property. For this practical reason the problem of where to bring suit is thus tied up with that of the enforceability of foreign judgments. Even if a judgment might be of practical value to the plaintiff, however, he might find that the courts of the country in which he wished to bring his action would not receive it. As a matter of fact, all countries have limited their jurisdiction—that is, the scope of actions that they allow their courts to handle. Countries do not wish their courts to deal with lawsuits with which they have no proper contact, which might clog the calendars of their courts, or against which it would be unfair to compel a person to enter a defense on pain of having judgment by default rendered against him. Each country determines for itself when its courts should decide a civil lawsuit.In composite countries, such as
American Indian reservations present similar problems when the occurrence of events on a reservation or the affiliation of a person with a reservation results in the application of tribal law rather than the law of the state in which the reservation is located. Membership in an American Indian tribe, for example, may determine the applicable law.
The imperatives of religious law or the traditions of foreign law may need to be accommodated within the framework of local law and procedures. Examples are the state of New York's requirement that a party seeking a divorce must remove impediments to the spouse's ability to remarry (which takes into account the Jewish law that the husband must issue a letter of divorcement—a get—to the wife) and the various ways employed by German courts to accommodate the Morgengabe (a transfer of property in contemplation of marriage within Islamic law) when dealing with questions of support upon divorce under local law.
Conflicts law is a part of national legal systems and is not codified in a systematic way at the supranational or international level. Nevertheless, some international treaties have unified particular areas of substantive and conflicts law with respect to the participating states. When a treaty provides uniform rules of substantive law—as does the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980)—it may displace national law, rendering the rules of conflicts law obsolete. In contrast, when an international treaty unifies conflicts law, substantive differences between national laws continue to exist, but the uniform rules provide a way to bridge them. However, conventions exist in relatively few areas of substantive law and conflicts law; also, the number of states participating in them is relatively small, and the interpretation and application of international treaties remain matters for the courts of the individual participating states. A notable exception was the Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations (1980), commonly known as the Rome Convention, which applied in the member states of the European Union (EU) and whose interpretation lay within the scope of the European Court of Justice upon reference from national courts. The EU possesses lawmaking powers that enable it to establish uniform rules of substantive law, thereby displacing previous national law and eliminating conflicts. In 2008 the EU adopted the Rome I Regulation, which transformed the Rome Convention into binding EU law, and promulgated the Rome II Regulation, which provided rules for determining the applicable law in cases of noncontractual obligations.
Projects for the unification or harmonization of laws on a wider (in some cases worldwide) basis have been pursued since the middle of the 19th century, when the Italian minister of justice Pasquale Stanislao Mancini sought to convene a conference for the harmonization of private international law. Similar efforts by the Dutch jurist Tobias Michael Carel Asser proved successful in 1893 with the founding of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. In 1904 Japan became the first non-European state to participate in the Hague Conference. Over the years, the Hague Conference has produced many conventions, some of which have enjoyed notable success, such as the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (1980) and the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (1965). The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), established in Rome in 1926, sponsors projects for the unification of substantive law. Examples include its early efforts with respect to international sales law and the more recent drafting of the Unidroit Principles of International Commercial Contracts (2004). In Latin America, Mercosur (also known as the Common Market of the South)—whose members include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—led the harmonization of important aspects of international business law, particularly in the areas of trademark, investment, and competition (antitrust) law. The Andean Community (Comunidad Andina; CAN) has promoted the harmonization of copyright and patent law between its member countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. (See also intellectual-property law.)
Another unifying force of growing importance is international business practice and custom (the so-called lex mercatoria [Latin: "law merchant"]), to which courts, arbitration tribunals, and parties increasingly refer in their decisions and commercial dealings.
Although few uniform international conflicts rules exist, there are a number of common principles that are recognized to varying extent throughout the world. The ancient international principle of comity—which, like the biblical Golden Rule, posits that even sovereign states should extend courtesies and privileges to each other—explains why one country would give effect to the law of another. A formal requirement of reciprocity could actually limit the extent of these courtesies and privileges to those that the other state is willing to extend. Party autonomy (i.e., the freedom of parties to decide what court shall hear their case and what law shall govern it) is recognized by most countries, those of Latin America being a notable exception.
Legal systems have established different criteria for the selection of one country's law over that of another for application to a particular case or problem. There are, however, some widely (albeit not uniformly) shared principles. For questions of family law, inheritance, and (in limited types of cases) even liability in tort, legal systems will consider the nationality or, alternatively, domicile or habitual residence of a person. For commercial transactions, a transaction's "closest connection" to a legal system may be emphasized over traditional connecting factors such as where the transaction was concluded. Factors determining a close connection to a particular state and its law may be the place of business or principal residence of the party that is to effect the performance in question, the language used by the parties in their negotiations and contract formation, the currency and modalities of payment specified, and other factors that are not as incidental as the place of contracting may be (e.g., when a contract is concluded in a hotel or other meeting place because both parties are in transit). For cases involving legal persons (corporations), many countries, particularly those of the common-law tradition, refer to the law of the state where the entity is incorporated, but others, especially those employing civil-law principles, refer to the law of the corporate "seat," defined as the place of central management and decision making. Among the latter countries, especially in the EU, there is now a trend to change to the place-of-incorporation rule.
Especially with respect to commercial transactions (e.g., contracts), modern conflicts law emphasizes flexibility. This quality is evident in Article 4 of the Rome Convention, which first established the general principle that the applicable law should be that to which the contract has the closest connection. Although the article provided some presumptions regarding what law that might be, it concluded by making it possible for the court to correct the result: if the court found that, exceptionally, another law was more closely connected to the contract or to one of its issues, then it should apply that law. The convention's successor, the Rome I Regulation, replaces the presumptions with specific rules for a number of contract types and retains the general reference to the most closely connected law for all other contracts (see below Choice of law).
As stated above, the first question in an international case potentially involving conflict-of-laws problems is which court has jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. Although the plaintiff decides where to sue, the courts in that location may not have jurisdiction, or they may have jurisdiction but be unwilling to exercise it, for reasons of forum non conveniens (Latin: "inconvenient forum"), as may happen in some common-law countries.
There are several factors that affect the plaintiff's decision of where to file a case. One is convenience. For example, a plaintiff is likely to want to sue in a jurisdiction that is reasonably close to his home, particularly because witnesses and evidence may be more readily available there. Legal questions also are important. A plaintiff may be more likely to file suit in a jurisdiction that will afford him procedural and other advantages and where the defendant has assets with which to satisfy an ultimate judgment. Examples of likely procedural or substantive law advantages include the possibility of a jury determination of damages in a tort case, the availability of punitive damages, the ease of obtaining pretrial discovery of evidence (commonly used in the United States), the possibility of suing on only a part of one's claim to determine the likelihood of success before committing resources to a suit on the entire claim (a common practice in Germany), and advantageous exploitation of variations in liability standards.
However, the place of suit is not entirely up to the plaintiff. The chosen court must have the power to entertain the case (jurisdiction to adjudicate). The jurisdictional grant will usually be defined by statute. In addition, the exercise of jurisdiction may also be limited (as a check on the statutory grant or on the judicial exercise of it) by constitutional provisions or pervasive principles of law. In the United States this is the function of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which limits the exercise of the jurisdiction of state courts to protect defendants against unreasonable burdens. The Fifth Amendment similarly limits federal courts in asserting jurisdiction in cases not based on state law. In addition, in common-law countries, provisions of law or court decision making practice may limit the exercise of jurisdiction to adjudicate for any number of reasons, including the need to prevent local courts from becoming clogged with litigation with which they have no concern (e.g., litigation between foreigners concerning a claim that arose abroad), especially when it seems likely that the courts of the forum state were chosen only as a means of gaining procedural- or substantive-law advantages not available to the plaintiff in his home country's courts (so-called "forum shopping"). Especially in the United States, courts may consider themselves to be a forum non conveniens in these circumstances and dismiss the action. This occurred in Piper AircraftReyno, a suit filed in the United States on behalf of Scottish parties whose relatives were killed in an airplane crash. The flight originated in Scotland and was scheduled to end there, the aircraft was owned by a British entity, the pilot was Scottish, and all of the relatives were Scottish; only the defendants—the airplane manufacturer (Piper) and the propeller manufacturer—had a connection to the United States. Because the plaintiffs sought remedies that were not available—at least not to the extent desired—under Scottish law, they decided to bring suit in the United States, making this a clear case of forum shopping.
American courts may dismiss for forum non conveniens when the exercise of jurisdiction would be unduly burdensome for the defendant. In many cases, dismissal protects the foreign defendant as much as it protects the local court from unfair burdens of foreign litigation. Courts likewise will not entertain actions concerning title to real property located in another country; while their judgment would bind the parties before them, the power to deal with the property itself (with effect as against all potential claimants) belongs solely to the country of location (situs).
Civil-law countries generally do not dismiss actions for reasons of forum non conveniens. The European Court of Justice has held expressly that the allocation of jurisdiction by EU law (namely, the Brussels I Regulation) is binding on national courts. As an exception, the Brussels II Regulation permits dismissal or transfer for forum non conveniens reasons in child-custody cases. (See below Recognition and enforcement of judgments.)
Each country determines the jurisdiction of its courts to entertain a civil law suit. In federal countries or unitary systems with strong traditions of regional or provincial jurisdiction (e.g., the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland), rules also are it becomes necessary to have rules to determine in which of the several constituent states, provinces, or other parts jurisdiction a civil lawsuit suit may be brought. In some countries (for instancee.g., Germany and Austria) this determination is made by the central (national) law . It may be left, however, to each of governs, while in others the constituent states or provinces to may determine for itself the scope of litigation that it will allow its courts to decide. Such, at least on general principle, is the situation jurisdiction of their courts themselves (e.g., the United States). Although state-court jurisdiction is a matter of state law in the United States, where the state's freedom of determination is limited, however, by the "due process" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution, which in effect prohibits the state from exercising civil jurisdiction where it would be grossly unfair to do so. In the countries of the Commonwealth, the jurisdiction of the courts is also determined for each constituent part by its own law, but the principles of such determination do not differ widely from one another.As a general principle, most countries or states agree that a case may be tried in their courts if both parties have consented to their jurisdiction. The plaintiff's consent simply appears from his commencing his action in the country or state in question; the consent of the defendant is federal constitutional law, particularly the Fourteenth Amendment's due process, equal-protection, and privileges-and-immunities clauses, limits the assertion of state-court jurisdiction.
Most countries allow the parties to agree to the jurisdiction of a court. Consent may take the form of an express agreement in the initial business contract or at the time the dispute arises. Alternatively, consent may be the result of conduct. The plaintiff's consent appears from the filing of the action. The defendant's consent may be presumed when, rather than objecting to the court's jurisdiction, he the defendant confesses judgment or appears and begins to litigate on the merits of the controversy. Some countries, nevertheless, close their courts to a litigant whose case has no more substantial connection with them than the parties' consent. French courts, for instance, will not try a lawsuit between foreigners unless it arises out of a controversy that has some real connection with France, such as the breach of a contract to be performed in France, or a tort committed in France, or title to land situated in France. As another example, the courts of New York regard themselves as an "inconvenient forum" for suits between nonresidents concerning a tort committed outside New York. With few exceptions, Anglo-U.S. courts will not try controversies concerning title to, or trespass upon, land that is situated outside the state.
Generally, however, the problem of jurisdiction does not become acute unless the defendant objects to having the case tried in the country or province of the plaintiff's choosing, or unless he fails to appear. Different approaches to this problem of jurisdiction are followed in the continental European countries of the civil-law tradition and in those of the common-law, or Anglo-American, tradition. The former start from the idea that the proper place for a person to be sued is his domicile or residence. Apart from this principal venue, however, several others are available. For example, contentions over title to land must be sought where the land is situated. A suit arising out of an alleged tort may be brought in the place where the tort is alleged to have been committed, and a suit based upon breach of contract may be brought in the place in which it is alleged that the alleged contract was to be performed.
Some countries—for instance, Germany—allow an absent defendant to be sued in their courts if he owns any property within the country. France keeps its courts open for suits of any kind brought by a French national against a foreigner. A large number of countries, including those adhering to the common-law tradition, allow a civil suit to be commenced by the attachment of property owned within the territory, the enforcement of a default judgment obtained being limited, however, to the assets thus attached.
In their general approach to the problem of jurisdiction, the common-law countries still proceed from the long-obsolete notion that a civil suit could be commenced only by the defendant's arrest by the sheriff. Consequently, an action can still be brought in any place in which the defendant is personally served with process, even though he may be there only for a few minutes to change airplanes. In modern times it has come to be widely held, however, that personal service upon the defendant is no longer an indispensable requirement of jurisdiction and that an individual may be sued in the country or state of his residence, even if the summons is not personally pressed upon him. A corporation can always be sued in the country or state in which it has been incorporated.
It is required, however, that an honest effort be made to give the defendant actual notice that a lawsuit is about to be brought against him. The mere publication of the summons in a newspaper or at the bulletin board of the court is not sufficient unless the address or identity of the defendant cannot be ascertained upon a reasonable effort.
States of the United States are now coming to allow their courts to exercise jurisdiction in cases having almost any kind of contact with the state. Generally, a corporation may be sued in any state in which it is simply "doing business," even though the case in question is totally unconnected with the state.
In both controversy. Even when both parties consent to a court's jurisdiction, the court in a common-law country may still decline to hear the case—for example, when neither of the parties nor the controversy has a connection to the country in which the court is located. In most cases, however, a court's jurisdiction is not an issue unless and until the defendant objects to it.
Traditionally, civil-law and common-law countries have followed different approaches in determining which court has jurisdiction in a civil action when the parties have not agreed on or submitted to the forum. Civil-law countries start from the premise that there is one principal place where a suit can be filed: the domicile of an individual or the seat of legal persons such as a corporation ("general jurisdiction"). In addition to these general bases of jurisdiction, a suit ordinarily may be brought in the courts of the place to which the suit has a special connection—e.g., where a tort was committed or where its effects were felt, where the alleged breach of a contract occurred, or, if title to real property is involved, where the property is located ("specific jurisdiction"). Increasingly, countries have limited the exercise of jurisdiction (and have prohibited parties from varying these limitations by agreement) for the protection of weaker parties, such as employees and consumers. Such a pattern has emerged, for example, in the procedural law of the EU.
Courts in common-law countries, particularly the United States, also assert jurisdiction on these bases but additionally will exercise jurisdiction simply on the basis of physical power over the person of the defendant. Thus, a court in the United States has jurisdiction over a defendant if he has been served with the documents commencing the suit in the territory of the state in which the court is located, even if he was there only temporarily or while in transit ("transient jurisdiction"). The United Kingdom and Ireland also exercise jurisdiction on this basis. U.S. law also provides for jurisdiction over a company when it has been connected in some ongoing way with the state, even if the particular dispute does not arise out of that connection. Thus, a court is authorized to assert jurisdiction when the defendant is "doing systematic and continuous business" within its state, even if the dispute arose elsewhere.
Most countries provide some bases of jurisdiction for the benefit of local plaintiffs. French law, for example, grants jurisdiction if the plaintiff possesses French nationality, and German statutory law permits a local plaintiff to sue an absent defendant on the basis of any property the defendant may have in Germany, regardless of whether the litigation is related to the property or even to Germany in any other way (though modern German court decisions have given provision a more limited reach). Rules such as these, which favour plaintiffs ("transient jurisdiction" also falls into this category), are known as "exorbitant" rules of jurisdiction. Within the EU they have been abrogated in cases in which the defendant is habitually resident within the EU. However, EU member-states may retain exorbitant jurisdictional bases of national law in cases involving non-EU defendants. Internationally—i.e., beyond the EU—these rules, as well as the American "doing business" jurisdictional rule, are a source of considerable tension. The Hague Conference on Private International Law sought to formulate an international convention on jurisdiction and judgment recognition. The effort was abandoned when the differences proved too large to bridge. Instead, a much more limited convention on choice of court agreements was adopted in 2005 and proposed for adoption by member states and others.
Both civil-law and common-law countries have special rules apply governing suits for suits in which the plaintiff aims at a "judgment in rem." Rather than ordering a defendant to pay a certain sum of money or ordering him to do, or not to do, a certain act (such as deliver a deed to a piece of land or refrain from using a trademark), a judgment in rem produces by its own effect a change of the legal situation (for instance, the foreclosure of a mortgage, the removal of a cloud on a title to land, the dissolution of a marriage, the creation of an adoptive parent-child relationship). Lawsuits aiming at the court's changing the title to a piece of land can universally be brought nowhere but in the country or province in which the land is situated. Actions arising out of transactions connected with shipping can generally be brought in the port in which the ship in question happens to find itself. In the United States a suit for divorce can be brought in the state of the plaintiff's domicile or residence, for the establishment of which periods varying between a few weeks and several months in length are prescribed. In the British countries the traditional rule of exclusive jurisdiction of the domicile of the husband is weakening. Civil-law countries generally keep their divorce courts open to their nationals even if they reside abroad.
Even if a civil action can be properly brought before a court having jurisdiction, international aspects may have an impact on the course of the proceedings.
Deviations from a purely domestic proceeding may arise especially if one of the parties resides outside of the forum state. In order to commence an action, the plaintiff's complaint must be served upon the defendant. The question then arises how such service can be effected if the action is to be brought, for example, before an English court when the defendant resides in France. In this case, formal service of judicial documents is entrusted to state officers or bailiffs and is therefore regarded as an act of national sovereignty. Since no court or state authority may act outside the area or state of the court, service in another state requires assistance by public authorities in that state. The authorities, especially the judicial authorities of the state in which the defendant resides, must be requested to assist. Such international judicial assistance is usually rendered on condition of reciprocity; i.e., only if the requesting state is prepared to honour a request for similar assistance. More certainty exists if both the requesting and the requested state are parties to a multilateral treaty on service of judicial documents.
A related issue will arise if the plaintiff cannot raise the funds for bringing his action or pursuing the proceedings. If he is a citizen of the forum state, he may be entitled to proceed in forma pauperis ("in the manner of a pauper"—i.e., exempt from the usual costs of proceedings) or to obtain legal aid. However, the forum state is often not willing to bestow this benefit upon foreigners or persons residing abroad. Multilateral conventions seek to remove these difficulties by facilitating "international access to justice."
Another major difficulty to be overcome is in taking evidence outside the forum state when, for example, a witness living in Australia has to be heard in a divorce suit pending before a German court. The problem and the solutions that have evolved are quite similar to those described above for the formal service of judicial documents outside the forum state.
If a creditor has obtained against his debtor a judgment for $1,000 in Mexico or in Michigan, and his debtor does not have sufficient property in that country or state, can he enforce it in Illinois, where the debtor owns land, keeps a bank account, or owns other assets? If someone has brought and lost a lawsuit in New York, can he start it all over again in California or in Peru? If the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been terminated by a decree of divorce of a court in Nevada, or by an act of the parliament of Canada, or by the order of a district governor in Norway, and Mr. Smith wishes to remarry in Wyoming or in South Africa, will he be given a license? If he remarries will his new marriage be valid or does he have to go to jail as a bigamist? If a citizen of the United States residing in Wisconsin adopts a child of German parents residing in Germany and the adoption has been confirmed by a court of Wisconsin, will the child inherit on the adopter's death a piece of land situated in Indiana or an account in a bank in Germany or in Switzerland?
Unless countries have bound each other by treaty mutually to enforce their civil judgments, each country is free as to whether or not, and, if at all, under what conditions, it wishes to enforce or otherwise recognize foreign judgments of the types indicated by the questions above. The attitudes of the several countries vary considerably in this respect, and the enforcement of foreign money judgments is not the same as the recognition of a judgment as a bar to the starting of a new suit all over again (res judicata effect), or the recognition of the termination of a marriage by a decree of divorce or of other changes of private legal relationships brought about by judicial act.
If, for example, an Illinois judgment for money is not promptly paid by the debtor, it can be enforced in Illinois by the attachment and sale of his property, the proceeds being turned over to the creditor. Such enforcement is generally the task of a public officer, such as a sheriff, who is empowered, where necessary, to break resistance with physical force. Although a sheriff knows well enough the looks of a judgment of his own country or province, he cannot be expected, or even allowed, to go into action simply upon the basis of a paper purporting to be the judgment of a foreign country with whose judicial system, language, or even script he cannot be expected to be familiar. For the protection of the citizen as well as of himself, it is indispensable that, before the sheriff or other enforcement officer goes into action, the foreign judgment be transformed into a domestic one. Some countries, such as The Netherlands or Sweden, simply limit enforcement to domestic judgments. Even if the creditor has obtained a judgment abroad, he must start regular proceedings all over again, and the only advantage that the foreign judgment provides for him lies in the fact that the Dutch or Swedish court will be inclined to regard it as good, although in no way conclusive, evidence that his claim is well founded. In most other countries, however, a domestic judgment will be supplied by a domestic court without a reopening of the dispute about the merits of the creditor's claim. All that the domestic court will inquire into is the regularity of the proceedings in which the foreign judgment was obtained. For this transformation of a foreign into a domestic judgment, the majority of the civil-law countries provide a kind of special proceeding (exequatur) that is supposed to be, but is not always, simpler and less expensive than an ordinary civil lawsuit. In the common-law countries it is necessary to bring upon the foreign judgment an action that in outward form is a regular civil lawsuit but that is, at least in the normal case, simple and speedy. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth a simplified mode of domestication is furnished by agreements and statutes providing, in certain cases, for the simple registration in one law unit of judgments rendered in another. In the United States a similar method exists in the relations between those states that have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. In the European Community and in Scandinavia, multilateral treaties oblige signatory states to recognize and enforce judgments from other member states and provide for a simplified procedure for the domestication of the foreign judgment.
When a foreign judgment is not sought to be enforced by attachment of the debtor's property or similar measures, but when its res judicata effect is raised as a defense in a domestic lawsuit, or when the question is that of recognition of its law-changing effects, such as the termination of a marriage by a decree of divorce, it would seem to be unnecessary to require the formal transformation of the foreign into a domestic judgment by any special proceedings. Some countries (for instance, Italy and, to a more limited extent, France) nevertheless require such formal domestication for judgments purporting to affect the personal status of their nationals.
In the United States the Constitution provides that "full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other state." Under this clause the states, and by statute the territories, are obliged mutually to enforce their money judgments and to recognize the res judicata and law-changing effects of their judicial acts, provided the state by which the judgment was rendered was acting within the scope of its jurisdiction as defined by the Supreme Court of the United States. The only other defenses that might be raised are grave irregularity of the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained and, in certain cases, lack of finality.
In countries that follow the general principles of the common law, a foreign judgment usually is willingly enforced and otherwise recognized unless (1) the country by which it was rendered lacked jurisdiction according to the notions prevailing in the place where recognition is sought, or (2) the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained were tainted with fraud or were otherwise grossly unfair, or (3) the recognition or enforcement of the foreign judgment would seriously interfere with an important public policy of the country or state where recognition or enforcement is sought. In addition to these requirements, most civil-law countries (except, of course, those few in which foreign judgments as such are not enforced at all) also demand reciprocity with the country seeking to have its judgment recognized.
Nowhere will a foreign judgment be enforced or recognized unless the country by which it was rendered had jurisdiction to do so under the notions obtaining where recognition is sought. These limits are sometimes wider, however, than those that a country will concede to others for the exercise of their jurisdictions. Whereas France, for instance, holds its courts open for all suits of a Frenchman against a foreigner, a U.S. or English court will not recognize a default judgment obtained in such an action unless the defendant was served with process in France or was a resident of France or had some other contact with that country that justifies his being sued in France.
In matters affecting personal status, especially divorce, civil-law countries generally recognize judgments rendered by the courts of the country of which the parties are nationals. Under the common law of England a decree of divorce will not be recognized unless it was rendered by the state of the domicile of the husband. After World War II, however, there were enacted in some parts of the Commonwealth statutes under which a wife living separately from her husband may also sue for divorce in the country or province of her residence, and a decree thus obtained is likely to be recognized in the other parts of the Commonwealth. Since 1971, the United Kingdom even recognizes a foreign divorce decree rendered in the country of which one of the spouses is a national.
In the United States the Supreme Court has determined that a divorce granted in one state must be recognized in all others if the state by which it was granted was the state of the true residence of the plaintiff or if the defendant actually participated in the proceedings without contesting the plaintiff's allegation of residence.
This young and less-developed branch of the conflict of laws has seen a tremendous growth in modern times. The growing importance of international criminal law is due, first, to the increased international mobility of people, giving rise to more criminal acts with a foreign element, such as traffic violations involving foreigners as offenders or victims. In addition, shrewd criminals and organized crime have discovered the increasing gap between the territorial limitations of police, prosecution, and court powers on the one hand and the easy and quick trans-border communication and movement of persons and assets on the other. The more important general issues of modern international criminal law are comparable to those of the conflict of laws of civil procedure and are therefore of three types: (1) jurisdiction—i.e., the question of which authorities of which country may prosecute a criminal and bring him into court; (2) the international aspects of a criminal court proceeding; and (3) the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in criminal matters—i.e., the value attached in state B to a judicial decision rendered in state A. Because of the marked differences between criminal and civil procedure, the problems and solutions of international criminal law differ from those of private international law in many important respects.
May a public prosecutor start a prosecution or may a criminal court open a judicial proceeding dealing with an offense that involves foreign elements? For instance, may a Swiss investigative or judicial authority open proceedings against a Frenchman? Does it make a difference whether this alleged offender resides in Switzerland, in France, or in Italy? Is it relevant whether the alleged act took place in Switzerland or outside Switzerland? Should one distinguish between a traffic accident, a theft, and a murder?
The basic principle for determining jurisdiction in criminal matters is that the authorities and courts of the state or province in which the offense was committed are competent to investigate and adjudicate it. This so-called principle of territoriality can be justified by both general and specific considerations. It is an important aspect of sovereignty that the authorities of a territory are responsible for preserving law and order in their area by protecting the integrity of the inhabitants and of their property against attacks and by punishing offenders. In addition, it is most practicable to investigate and adjudicate offenses where they have occurred because local circumstances can easily be taken into account, and witnesses and other means of evidence usually are located at or near the place of commission. Territoriality is generally recognized as the defining principle of jurisdiction in international criminal law. Some countries, especially in the English-speaking world, even regard it as the exclusive basis of jurisdiction. Other countries extend the basic rule by a few narrow and specific additions for particular offenses, such as drug offenses, terroristic acts, or war crimes.
Two conventions in force for some members of the Council of Europe empower a contracting state A, on whose territory a person residing in contracting state B has committed an offense, to request the authorities of B to prosecute and adjudicate that offense under its criminal law. Paradoxically, these conventions were concluded in the interest of offenders, because they allow the authorities in the country of the offense to release the offender and request the country of residence to take over the prosecution and trial. Without the conventions, the police in the country of the offense would be compelled either to ask for securities or, in aggravated cases, to arrest the offender, at least until the trial was over and possibly even until he had served the sentence imposed for the offense.
Jurisdiction in criminal matters also has a personal aspect. Criminal trials, as distinct from trials of civil actions, will usually be continued only if the defendant appears before the court. His presence is almost indispensable for a fair trial. Since, for instance, a U.S. court or police officer cannot arrest a suspect outside the United States, the assistance of other countries for seeking, arresting, and delivering an alleged offender is required. For this purpose, bilateral and multilateral treaties provide, under certain conditions, for the extradition of suspects to the requesting country, which is usually the place where the offense was committed. One important restriction of the duty to extradite on which many countries insist protects nationals of the country requested; thus, the German constitution prohibits the extradition of Germans to foreign countries. The purpose of this prohibition is not to make Germans immune from criminal trials for offenses committed abroad but to ensure them a trial before a German court. In order to achieve this, jurisdiction of German courts is extended beyond the basic principle of territoriality to include all offenses committed by Germans, even those committed abroad.
In a criminal proceeding, there are fewer complications caused by foreign elements than there are in civil proceedings, usually because the defendant is present at the trial. Nevertheless, he may require legal aid if he is too poor to pay for his defense. Or a foreign defendant or foreign witness may need an interpreter. These problems of access to the court are usually settled under the forum country's domestic rules of criminal procedure.
International cooperation is especially necessary where evidence has to be taken in a country outside the forum state. The most reliable way to obtain the necessary judicial assistance of foreign states is through treaties concluded between states. A convention of the Council of Europe, for example, makes judicial assistance in criminal matters obligatory for 18 member countries. Its opening provision binds the contracting states to afford one another, within the terms of the convention, "the widest measure of mutual assistance in proceedings in respect to offenses."
Generally speaking, the issues arising out of the international effects of a criminal judgment are comparable to those involved in determining the weight to be attached to a foreign judgment in civil matters. If a person has been convicted and sentenced in Turkey but before the end of the trial has fled the country, can he be brought back to Turkey to serve his sentence there? If he cannot be brought back to Turkey, will Italy, his present country of abode, be willing to enforce the payment of a penalty or even a prison sentence? Will the answer be different if the offender is an Italian residing in Italy? Less drastic, but certainly no less relevant, for the defendant is the question whether after an acquittal in France he may be prosecuted and convicted in Denmark for an offense based upon the same facts.
The stronger the intended effects of a foreign judgment, the less are states willing to give effect to it. The strongest effect of a criminal judgment is the enforcement of a sentence imposed by the court, and, contrary to the treatment of foreign judgments in civil matters, states are generally quite unwilling to enforce foreign prison sentences or even penalties. This situation can only be remedied by the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral treaties, of which many exist. The most common type provides for extradition of the convict to the country in which he has been convicted. Nineteen member countries of the Council of Europe, for example, are bound by a multilateral convention on mutual extradition. A more recent type of convention allows a contracting state A, where a resident of contracting state B has been convicted, to request the latter state to take over the person and make him serve in B the prison sentence imposed in A. Such a request usually serves the interests of the offender, especially if the penitentiary system of state A is not as well developed as that of state B. Such a transfer also helps to preserve the social and familial contacts of the offender and to facilitate his social rehabilitation. Usually state B will agree to enforcement of a foreign criminal sentence only if the offense is one that is punishable under the law of B also.
Lesser effects than enforcement of sentences are usually more acceptable to foreign states. The fact that a suspect has been acquitted or has been convicted and has served his sentence in one country is, in many other countries, recognized as a bar to a new prosecution or conviction for the same offense. In this way the double jeopardy rules of many national laws, barring a second proceeding on the same facts, is extended to the international level.
An earlier conviction for an offense in state A may have an adverse effect for a defendant who is later convicted for an offense of the same type in state B. This is true if, under the law of B, penalties may or must be increased for repeated offenses of the same type. In this case, too, a domestic rule (that penalizing recidivism) is extended to the international level, this time to the disadvantage of the defendant.
Literature on individual national systems of law is too numerous to be cited. Broad comparative treatments are offered by István Szászy, International Civil Procedure: A Comparative Study, trans. from Hungarian (1967); and Ernst Rabel, The Conflict of Laws: A Comparative Study, 2nd ed., 3 vol. (1958–64), the only scholarly analysis of the conflict of law on a worldwide scale.
judgments in rem (Latin: "with respect to the thing"), which concern proprietary legal rights. Unlike actions for judgments in personam (Latin: "with respect to the person"), which concern personal legal rights and may seek money damages or injunctions to do or not to do an act, an in rem action seeks a judgment that produces effects of its own on a legal relationship. Examples include actions to quiet title to land, to foreclose a mortgage on land (by selling it), and to remove a party's interest that encumbers title to land. In common-law countries, family-status actions (e.g., divorce or the creation of an adoptive family-child relationship) have been likened to in rem actions; for example, in divorce proceedings, particularly in the United States, the domicile of each spouse localizes the status and permits the court at the domicile to assert divorce jurisdiction. At the same time, residence of varying length (from several weeks to several months) may take the place of—or may presumptively equal—domicile for divorce-jurisdiction purposes. In contrast, civil-law countries have not likened divorce jurisdiction to in rem proceedings. They provide for divorce, including the possibility of ex parte divorce (i.e., only the petitioner is before the court), on the basis of a close relationship to the forum state—e.g., residence of a specified length of time. Central to the continued divergence of these jurisdictional approaches is the applicable law: a court following an in rem approach to status matters will always apply its own law. In contrast, courts in civil-law countries treat the action as in personam and make a choice-of-law determination that focuses on personal connecting factors such as the nationality or marital residence of the parties. Because civil-law courts make choice-of-law decisions with reference to the particular parties and their case, jurisdictional standards can be more liberal in those countries than in common-law countries, where less-restrictive standards would lead to forum shopping.
Fundamental fairness requires that the defendant receive notice sufficient to afford him an opportunity to defend. In common-law countries this notice is effected by "service of process" on the defendant; similar procedures exist in civil-law countries. Service on the defendant in person is considered ideal; alternatively, "substituted service" (e.g., even by publication) is a last resort when the whereabouts of the defendant are unknown. International cases pose special problems. Countries often cooperate bilaterally, either on the basis of express agreements or as a matter of practice, in aiding each other's courts to effect service on the defendant. A very effective multilateral mechanism is the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, to which some 50 countries, including the United States, China, Russia, and all the EU states, are party. It provides for a "Central Authority" in each member state that receives service requests from other convention states and executes them according to its own national procedures.
In its choice of the applicable law, the court that exercises jurisdiction determines which law to apply to a case that involves foreign parties, foreign transactions, or a number of foreign elements. In a simple world, the court would always apply its own law, the law of the forum (known in Latin as the lex fori). Indeed, some modern methodologies, particularly in the United States, favour the lex fori approach.
Classic theories of conflicts law were territorially oriented. The German jurist and legal scholar Friedrich Karl von Savigny (1779–1861) sought to identify the law where, "according to its nature," the legal problem or relationship had its "seat." Anglo-American law also sought the territorially applicable law because, in the view of the American legal scholar Joseph Beale (1861–1943), whose thoughts shaped much of American conflict-of-laws theory in the first half of the 20th century, that is where the rights and obligations of the parties "vested." This vested-rights doctrine maintained that, once a right was created in one locale, its existence should be recognized everywhere. Classic theories of conflicts law used a number of connecting factors to determine the territorially applicable law. In matters of family law, Anglo-American law used the parties' domicile (narrowly defined). In civil-law countries, by contrast, a person's nationality was until recently the most important connecting factor. Because of the influence of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, however, the reference is now more commonly to the law of a person's "habitual residence" (as it is in the law of jurisdiction).
For torts, American law traditionally looked to the law of the place of injury, whereas European law referred either to it or to the law of the place where the wrongful conduct had occurred. Some European systems referred to the law of either of these places; this was, and continues to be, the plaintiff-favouring choice-of-law rule in Germany. For contracts, most legal systems looked to the place of performance for breach but stipulated that the place of formation was a more important connecting factor for questions of validity. These examples illustrate that rather well-defined connecting factors can identify the applicable law in a predictable manner, subject to exceptions in certain difficult cases.
Despite, or perhaps because of, their predictable results, these rules at times failed to serve the interests of justice: they were inflexible, and they did not prevent important aspects of a particular case from being overlooked. Such problems could have occurred in cases involving the fortuitous commission abroad of a tort involving parties with a common domicile in the forum or in another state (where the long-term effects of the tort would be felt) or the conclusion of a contract in an unrelated state (for example, at a trade fair) between two or more parties, all of whom conducted business in a common (but different) state. In both examples, the common ("home") law of the parties might serve the parties' interests—and those of society—better than the mechanical application of traditional tort or contract choice-of-law rules. Consequently, courts and parties resorted to so-called "escape devices" that yielded better, more appropriate results. Among these is the recharacterization of a set of facts—e.g., the recasting of a question of contract as a tort or a tort question as one of family law. For example, what law governs the question of whether spouses have the capacity to sue each other or whether they have immunity? In a personal-injury case, is this a question of tort law (i.e., the law of the place of injury) or family law (law of the state of the marital domicile)? If the two laws differ, the characterization of the issue may produce different outcomes. The escape from rigid rules by means of recharacterization resulted in a period of considerable uncertainty, especially in the United States.
New approaches to choice of law, starting with the governmental-interest analysis developed by the American legal scholar Brainerd Currie, began to emerge in the 1950s. Currie's approach sought to determine whether a "true" or "false" conflict exists between the law of the forum state and that of the other involved state. A false conflict exists if the laws of both states do not differ; if, though ostensibly different, both laws are designed to effectuate the same policy; or if one law is construed to be inapplicable to cases such as the one before the court. If by these guidelines the other state is determined not to have an interest, a false conflict exists, thus making the local law of the forum the applicable choice of law.
In cases of "true conflict"—i.e., in cases in which both the forum's law and another law claim applicability—Currie called for the application of forum law. He rejected any evaluation or weighing of the competing state interests, considering this to be a legislative, not a judicial, function. Contemporary applications of interest analysis do undertake to weigh the relative interest; an example is California's "comparative impairment" approach. Overall, governmental-interest analysis has had a significant influence on modern American conflicts law.
Another approach, known as the better-law approach, attempts to determine which of two potentially applicable laws is better as a solution to the problem at hand. Not surprisingly, both the governmental-interest and the better-law approaches tend to apply the lex fori, either because the other law is deemed to be inapplicable (i.e., the other state is disinterested, or there is a so-called "false conflict") in view of the forum's determination that it has the greater interest in having its law applied or because forum law, according to the better-law approach, is deemed to be better. American case law employing these approaches has tended to display a "homeward trend"—i.e., one that favours the home forum.
The American Law Institute (ALI), a private association of lawyers, judges, and law professors, drafts so-called "restatements" of specific areas of the law. Bearing some resemblance to European codes in their form and structure, the ALI's restatements synthesize all U.S. state case laws on a particular subject, such as tort, agency, or contracts. As the laws change, the ALI publishes new restatements. Although the material presented in them is not law, many ALI restatements have proven so reliable that courts have been known to cite the restatement instead of case law precedents. This has occurred, for example, with the restatements of contract and of tort law.
The Restatement of the Law, Second: Conflict of Laws (1971– ) not only updated its predecessor document (which was promulgated in 1934 and reflected a bias toward vested-rights thinking) but took a forward-looking stance by presenting recommended approaches, particularly for tort and contract conflict-of-laws cases. Drawing upon all of the approaches that had been the subject of academic discourse over the preceding quarter century, it called for the applicable law to be the law of the place where the "most significant relationship" between the transaction (in contract) or occurrence (in tort) and the parties is located. Furthermore, the Restatement (Second) provides a number of connecting factors ("contacts") to determine the place of the most significant relationship, such as the place of the tort, the domicile of the parties, and so forth. These contacts are to be evaluated in light of the "general principles" of section 6 of the Restatement (Second). They include party expectations, societal interests—including the policies underlying particular rules of law—ease in the administration of justice, and fairness, among others. This approach, which some earlier contract cases had called the search for the contract's "centre of gravity," has been very influential in the United States.
Nevertheless, several of its features can make its application somewhat uncertain. For example, because the criteria provided by the Restatement (Second) are not ranked in order of priority, different courts may assign different priorities, thereby contributing to different (divergent) results. The Restatement (Second) also provides expressly that the choice-of-law determination be made for each issue of the case; as a result, different laws may apply to different issues of a case (a situation known as dépeçage [French: "break into smaller pieces"]). This "splitting" of a case into its various component issues may promote just solutions for difficult international cases, but the practice significantly increases the burden on courts and on the involved parties. In addition, it diminishes the decision's value as a precedent for later cases, even if they differ only slightly. Finally, the general principles of the Restatement's section 6 accommodate all doctrinal schools—from interest analysis to the better-law approach—thus giving courts substantial leeway. Predictability thus depends on the development of a consistent body of case law, yet its orientation may differ from state to state.
European choice-of-law methodology has undergone similar changes, both in the law of individual European states and within the EU—in the latter first as a result of the Rome Convention and more recently as the result of EU legislation. In tort the EU's Rome II Regulation contains specific rules for a few torts but in general calls for the application of the law of the place of injury, with exceptions in favour of the law of the parties' common habitual residence and, as an alternative, of a more closely connected law. In contract the Rome I Regulation also provides specific choice-of-law rules for a number of contract types—for example, seller's law for contracts for the sale of goods in the absence of a contrary party stipulation. In so doing, it translates the preceding Rome Convention's reference to the law of the party rendering the "characteristic performance" (e.g., selling the goods, providing the service) into concrete rules. The Rome Convention's underlying policy—application of the most closely connected law—becomes the default rule when no specific rule applies. The Rome I Regulation also provides special rules for consumer, insurance, and employment contracts.
In many countries around the world, including many that are civil-law oriented, recent legislation similarly has made the determination of the applicable law more flexible. Many codifications, such as in eastern Europe outside the EU, or legislative projects, such as in China, no longer make reference to a single governing law in tort but also give weight to such alternatives as the parties' common domicile and other relevant factors.
Differences between the conflicts law of different countries may raise additional choice-of-law questions, such as those pertaining to the renvoi (French: "send back") principle. If the foreign law, to which the forum's conflicts rule refers, contains a conflicts rule that refers back to the law of the forum, will the latter accept the reference and apply its own law? Similarly, if the foreign law contains a conflicts rule that refers to the law of a third country, will the forum follow that reference? The underlying question hinges on whether the forum's reference to foreign law includes that law's conflicts rules in the first place. Many legal systems answer the question in the affirmative and thereby resolve the two questions posed in the foregoing. But not all conflicts systems utilize renvoi (most American courts do not), and even those legal systems that do use it or have used it in the past exclude renvoi. This is now the case in EU conflicts law with respect to tort and contract cases.
On procedural issues, a court will always apply its own law. There is no agreement, however, on which issues are procedural and which are substantive. Time limitations (statutes of limitations), for example, are considered substantive in civil-law countries but procedural in certain other countries and in many states of the United States.
Judgments are sovereign acts that have no force beyond the jurisdiction of the court that renders them. Thus, if assets for satisfying a judgment in favour of a creditor are unavailable locally, recognition and enforcement of the judgment will need to be sought in a state in which the debtor does hold assets. Within the United States, recognition and enforcement of sister-state judgments are mandated by the full faith and credit clause of the federal Constitution and are facilitated procedurally in many states by uniform state laws. For EU member-states the Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (1968) and its successor, the Council Regulation on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (2000; Brussels I), perform a similar function by mandating the automatic recognition and enforcement of EU member-state civil and commercial judgments in all other member states, subject only to few exceptions. Another EU regulation, the Council Regulation concerning Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and the Matters of Parental Responsibility (2003; the Brussels II Regulation), does much the same for divorce and custody decrees.
Internationally, the recognition of a judgment is a matter of national law, although it is sometimes dealt with in bilateral or multilateral treaties (except in the United States, which is not party to any judgments-recognition treaty). National legal systems will ordinarily recognize a judgment rendered in a foreign country (sometimes on the condition of reciprocity), provided that the rendering court had jurisdiction (as measured by the standards of the recognizing court), that the judgment debtor had received notice sufficient to enable him to defend, and that the foreign judgment does not offend the public policy of the recognizing state. Most systems do not allow a review of the foreign judgment on the merits (a so-called révision au fond [French: "review of the background"]). However, when a court rejects a foreign judgment on the basis of public policy, it will necessarily have considered substantive or procedural aspects of foreign law and, because of its disapproval of them, refuse to accept the outcome of the case. A German court, for example, will refuse to recognize an American punitive damage judgment because, according to the German view, punitive damages exceed the purview of tort law, which seeks compensation but not punishment. Similarly, an American court may refuse to recognize an English judgment for damages because English substantive and procedural law (e.g., the burden of proof in defamation) violates U.S. constitutional-law principles.
In composite jurisdictional systems such as those of the United States and the EU, where a central norm establishes jurisdictional limits for the constituent units, alleged jurisdictional defects must be raised directly (on appeal within the particular constituent unit's system) when both parties are before the court. They cannot be raised collaterally—i.e., as a defense against recognition of the judgment in another constituent unit. The effect of the first court's judgment (and of issues necessarily bound up with it) on the immediate parties, when not appealed or when affirmed on appeal, becomes res judicata (Latin: "the matter is adjudicated" or "a thing adjudged") and is not open for reexamination in a second forum (nor in the original forum after a period fixed by the statute of limitations has expired). The scope of a judgment's res judicata effect (the recognition of a judgment as a bar to the initiation of a new suit all over again) is ordinarily that which attaches under the law of the rendering state. Exceptions may apply when the judgment is rendered by default (i.e., the defendant is not before the rendering court), when certain effects are unknown in the law of the recognizing country, or perhaps also when a judgment goes beyond the res judicata effect that the latter's law would accord.
Criminal law is part of public law and is not subject to the individual's disposition (in the way that parties can choose the applicable law by contract in their private transactions), its sphere of application is determined by public international law, which defines the reach of state sovereignty. Prosecution and court proceedings are almost never governed by foreign laws. The most important issue is therefore whether a state's authorities may commence criminal proceedings in cases involving foreign persons or elements.
According to the generally recognized principle of territoriality, the country where the offense was committed is competent to investigate and adjudicate it, because that country's authorities are responsible for preserving law and order in its territory. Territoriality may be modified in two ways. First, countries may claim jurisdiction over offenses committed by their citizens abroad. Second, public international law recognizes the jurisdiction of all countries over certain universal crimes, including genocide and piracy. A number of bilateral and multilateral conventions facilitate the obtaining of evidence, provide legal aid, or ensure the extradition of offenders. In the EU the Europol Convention provides for judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters. See also international criminal law.
The literature on individual national legal systems is too vast to list exhaustively. Some standard works that include comparative treatments are, for the United Kingdom, Dicey, Morris, and Collins on the Conflict of Laws, 14th ed., edited by Lawrence Collins et al. (2000); for France, Henri Batiffol and Paul Lagarde, Traité de droit international privé, 8th ed., vol. 1 (1993); for Germany, Gerhard Kegel and Klaus Schurig, Internationales Privatrecht, 9th rev. ed. (2004); and Christian von Bar, Internationales Privatrecht, 2 vol. (1987–91), with a 2nd ed. of vol. 1 coauthored with Peter Mankowski (2003); and, for the United States, Eugene F. Scoles et al., Conflict of Laws, 4th ed. (2004). Clarifications of American conflict of laws are provided in Russell J. Weintraub, Commentary on the Conflict of Laws, 5th ed. (2006), with annual supplements; and Symeon Symeonides, The American Choice-of-Law Revolution in the Courts: Today and Tomorrow (2003). A comprehensive treatment of classic conflicts law, still valuable for its rich historical sources, is Ernst Rabel, The Conflict of Laws: A Comparative Study, 4 vol. (1945–58). A more contemporary overview is in Friedrich K. Juenger, Choice of Law and Multistate Justice (1993, reissued 2005).


text: Hello ADV members, I'd like to introduce myself, My name is Alex Martens and I operate Konflict Motorsports & Suspension based in Redmond Washington just outside of Seattle. A majority of our customers are Adventure riders, and with that in mind we have focused a majority of our services based on the larger ADV bikes. We would be more than happy to answer any technical questions you might have. We offer services for the following applications: KTM, Husaberg, Honda Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Gas-Gas, Husqvarna, BMW, and Beta motorcycles. At Konflict Motorsports and Suspension all suspension modifications are performed by Alex himself, no substitutions whatsoever. This is what gives us the edge over our competition. Many shops have people uneducated in suspension performance answering the phones, someone else testing, and another person doing the work. With this process quality, consistency, and performance are compromised. Here at Konflict Motorsports and Suspension, you can expect true one on one personal service from start to finish. Every setting has been tested by approved by Alex himself. Reviews: From: Off-Road Rider I've had all sort of bikes and have been riding and racing for more than 40 years. very seldom do I come across a game changer for any particular bike, small improvements yes, but a complete transformation is something else. I recently Raced my 950S in a local desert race, although I had a great time and won the class. I beat the hell out of my bike and myself. When I was done the rear shock was spewing oil like an old Harley. The suspension had already been reworked by another shop. Until the race and even after, I thought it was pretty good. Since my shock needed attention, and I had recently met Alex from Konfict, I thought I would give them a try... Alex spoke with me and had a short form to fill out about what type of riding I do. After about a week I was received my forks and shock back from Konflict. First ride was a double up with the wife. I could tell a difference, but really wasn't able to tax the new suspension all that much, a few small jumps, wheelies and fire roads with Sandra on the back.. She loves that stuff! The next day I got out on my own and hit up the local ORV park, this gave me a chance to really test high speed gravel roads (50 plus MPH) with large G outs and wheel bending potholes. There was also a make shift MX track for my testing. I was blown away with how the bike now handles, other than not having the flick ability of my 530. I rode as though I was riding the smaller bike. The high speed dampening was spot on, The bike handled all the logs, ruts, and jumps far better than I could have ever imagined. The bike also handles the tarmac incredibly well. Anyone can throw springs in a bike, What I was impressed with is the performance of Konflict's valving. By far the best mod you can make to your 9x0! Alex_RO Bucharest, Romania 10/25/2012 KTM 990 ADVENTURE Konflict Motorsports & Suspension Review Forum Very happy! KTM 990 Adv, not an SE ... but he helped me. VERY satisfied customer. Uller Marysville, WA 10/24/2012 KTM 950 ADVENTURE S Konflict Motorsports & Suspension Review Forum Money Well Spent Alex recently performed his magic on my 950 Adv S. It is night and day compared to before. < Best money spent on it yet. I can't wait to save enough $ to have my 690 done by him too, and I already have sent those suspenders to a very reputable shop down south. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Shop: 425-681-5160

subset: commoncrawl


text: By "idea" I meant just wishing they hadn't scaled up the ship. Here's a pic of the new shuttlebay, with one of the 40ft "Military Transport" shuttles parked inside. It looks to me the same size as it was in ST'09: http://www.ncc1701shipyard.com/images/highres/shuttlebay3.jpg And here's the entire Vengeance crash sequence in HD, courtesy of Paramount France. [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDRblfmXGCc[/YT] Back when the film opened, Locutus of Bored posted a cool map showing Vengeance's path of destruction, and it's relative size to Alcatraz Island at what we'd guesstimated at the time to be 1450m/4757ft - extremely close to ILM's 4500ft and Qmx's 4800ft figures. I'll see if I can find it.


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Dems highlight N.J. traffic jam tapes
Democrats sought to keep New Jersey's traffic jam scandal in the spotlight — and increase the pressure on Gov. Chris Christie — with the release Friday of emergency dispatcher and 911 audio recordings from last fall's gridlock.
The traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge appear to have been orchestrated by Christie aides and allies as part of an alleged payback scheme against a Democratic mayor who didn't endorse the Republican governor for reelection. The episode has threatened Christie's potential presidential ambitions in 2016.
Story Continued Below
Frustrated emergency dispatchers are heard in the recordings as they confronted the heavy traffic in the Fort Lee area. Some of their discussions, including those about the "total gridlock," the traffic "nightmare" and an elderly injured woman who had "been waiting for over an hour," were previously reported when The Associated Press reviewed dispatch logs earlier this month.
( QUIZ: How well do you know Chris Christie?)
AP concluded that the traffic jam "appeared not to lead to anyone's death or seriously compromise their medical care" but that that outcome "reflects good fortune, not good planning."
Fort Lee released the recordings Friday after requests from a variety of groups, including state and national news organizations; Christie's outside counsel, Randy Mastro; and the liberal research firm American Bridge, according to Borough Clerk Neil Grant.
American Bridge created a website where it posted the emergency dispatcher recordings and produced a Web video with "highlights."
"The audio from these tapes provides a window into the burden local law enforcement and emergency response workers shouldered while Christie's administration sought to penalize a political foe of the governor," said Gwen Rocco, a spokeswoman for American Bridge, in a statement.
( Also on POLITICO: Mitt Romney, Chris Christie raise $1 million for RGA)
Fort Lee's coordinator of emergency medical services had aired his concerns about the "unusual" and "unnecessary" delays in a letter to the mayor, Mark Sokolich, last September while the lanes were closed. Sokolich is the mayor who is alleged to have been the target of the political retribution by Christie aides and allies.
The coordinator outlined four medical emergencies where the response was impacted by the traffic. The letter surfaced in early January as the involvement of Christie allies in the lane closures and subsequent fallout became more clear.
The release comes as state lawmakers and a U.S. attorney continue their probes into the four days worth of traffic jams last September, which were caused by closures of lanes onto the busy bridge.
Christie has denied any personal involvement in the scheme and fired or distanced himself from people who were alleged involved. His office declined to comment on American Bridge's statement on Friday. A lawyer for Sokolich declined to comment on the recordings' release.


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Tips & Tricks: Creating a 2W+4R FPGA Block RAM, Part 1
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Most FPGAs offer dual-port RAMs (1R+1W = one read and one write), but sometimes we want to perform multiple reads and writes concurrently.
Hello there. This is my second column here on EE Times. This time, I am going to describe something more technical than I did in my introductory post. I hope it will prove useful to you. In this column, I will explain the path from a normal FPGA Block RAM into a 2W+4R (two read ports and four write ports) memory, which I needed for my upcoming CPU design.
Most FPGAs include dual-port block RAMs, which are very convenient for a wide variety of designs but have some inherent limitations. One limitation relates to the write sequence. Writing to one port and reading from the other at the same time sometimes does not yield the result you'd expect. These block RAMs also usually have two methods of operation when writing data. They either return the newly written value on the corresponding read port (write-first), or they return the old data that was present before the write (read-first). This post will be about using the block RAM in write-first mode (and using a single clock for both ports). I'm going to assume that you are familiar with block RAM basics, so I'll skip that part.
With modern RISC-like CPUs, which can be superscalar (meaning they can execute more than one instruction on the same clock cycle) in some scenarios, the register bank must present a significant number of read ports, so we can read many registers at once. The register bank also needs to provide a significant number of write ports to allow register writeback on multiple registers at the same time. The block RAMs present on the FPGA support only two ports, so a technique must be devised to allow for more than one reader and more than one writer at same time.
I should note that there are some alternative techniques to the one presented here. I will mention some alternatives during the course of these discussions, but exploring these in depth is left as an exercise for the reader.
Conflict avoidance
Let's start by considering a block RAM with one read-only port and one write-only port. Most block RAMs have a simple but annoying limitation -- there is a data conflict if you try to write a value on one port on a specific address and at the same time read the same address from the other port. For example, Xilinx's Spartan-6 FPGA block RAM user guide states:
When one port performs a write operation, the write operation succeeds If the write port is in either WRITE_FIRST or in NO_CHANGE mode, then the DATA_OUT on the [other port] read port would become invalid (unreliable). The mode setting of the read-port does not affect this operation.
It probably won't surprise you that we don't want unreliable data on the read port. This would render our design useless. However, the user guide tells us about a small trick (very well known by CPU designers) can be used to overcome this limitation.
Conflicting simultaneous writes to the same location never cause any physical damage but can result in data uncertainty When one port performs a write operation, the other port must not write into the same location, unless both ports write identical data.
The trick is very simple. Since we are reading from one port and writing to the other, we just convert the read on the read port into a write if there is a concurrent write to the same address on the other port. This will cause the read port (now converted into a write) to output the new data (due to the WRITE_FIRST mode on itself). There will be no write conflict, since both writes on both ports target the same address and write the same data.
Here's a simple schematic of the design. The additional connections required are shown in red.
Now we have a 1R+1W (one read port, one write port) design that does not have any conflict issue when we read and write to the same address. This is still short of our objective, which is to have four read ports and two write ports, so let's improve on this design.
A 2R+1W block RAM
Let's start improving our design by adding another read port. We have the limitations associated with the block RAM hardware, so how are we supposed to add another read port if we cannot change the silicon?
The answer is replication. As its name suggests, this involves replicating the memory contents of the block RAM, effectively using two times the resources. Below we see a simple schematic representation of this.
How does this help? The answer is simple -- we connect both write ports so that writes target both individual 1R+1W block RAMs but use each of the read ports separately. This way, every write will effectively be present on both memories and available to both read ports.
A 4R+1W block RAM
Once again, replication comes to our aid. Our new design will use four times the original resources to provide us with four read ports, as illustrated in the schematic below.
Basically, we just replicate the RAM again like we did in our previous example. Using this technique, we can add as many read ports as we like (at the expense of RAM and an increase of fanout on the write path).
Of course, we still have only one write port. Adding another write port will be a little more complex. I'll address this in my next column. Also, I will be considering some of the other options available to us to implement these types of multi-port RAMs. In the meantime, do you have any questions or comments?
Related posts:


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Melospiza melodia
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
Christine Haines
A rich, russet-and-gray bird with bold streaks down its white chest, the Song Sparrow is one of the most familiar North American sparrows. Don't let the bewildering variety of regional differences this bird shows across North America deter you: it's one of the first species you should suspect if you see a streaky sparrow in an open, shrubby, or wet area. If it perches on a low shrub, leans back, and sings a stuttering, clattering song, so much the better.
The Song Sparrow sings a loud, clanking song of 2–6 phrases that typically starts with abrupt, well-spaced notes and finishes with a buzz or trill. In between, the singer may add other trills with different tempo and quality. The song usually lasts 2-4 seconds. Patterns of songs vary over the species' enormous range, so the Song Sparrows you hear when traveling may not sound quite like those from your hometown.
Song Sparrows have a sharp chip note to indicate alarm or anxiety; both sexes make it when excited or if predators approach a nest. Females make a harsh chatter at their mates during nest-building, or at a female intruding on the territory. Young or subordinate birds make a softer, tsip note.
This species often comes to bird feeders. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.
In spring and summer, Song Sparrows are one of the most conspicuous of all sparrows. Males sing often, perching around eye level on exposed branches. Also watch for Song Sparrows moving along wetland edges, ducking into dense, low vegetation after short bursts of their distinctive, tail-pumping flight.
Keep track of the Song Sparrows at your feeder with Project FeederWatch
What's That Sparrow? ID tips from the Great Backyard Bird Count
Researcher "Sings" for a Living to Decode Bird Songs (Cornell Chronicle)
Look for Song Sparrow nests and contribute valuable data about them through NestWatch
All About Birds blog, Identify the Brown, Streaky, Juvenile Songbirds of Summer With These Tips, July 23, 2014.
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Smoke-Free Campus
July 1
In January, Eisenhower Medical Center launched Five Star Wellness, a new employee program focusing on the Five Pillars of Wellness: Exercise, Nutrition, Pulmonary Health/Smoking Cessation, Stress Reduction, and Weight Management. The goal of the program is to promote the health and wellness of Eisenhower employees by collectively encouraging healthy behaviors that can have a long-term impact on individual health.
One of the most serious and welldocumented health risks is the use of tobacco products, including cigarette smoking and chewing tobacco, and exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the National Cancer Institute, cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Approximately one out of every five deaths each year is attributable to smoking. Further, each year, approximately 38,000 deaths in the United States are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke (smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe, in addition to the smoke exhaled by a smoker).
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States, with 90 percent of lung cancer deaths among men, and approximately 80 percent of lung cancer deaths among women, attributed to smoking. Smoking also increases the risk of other cancers, including cancers of the throat, mouth, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix.
In order to provide a healthy and safe environment for employees, patients and visitors, and to promote positive healthy behaviors, Eisenhower Medical Center will implement a tobacco-free policy on all of its campuses effective July 1, 2010. The tobacco ban will apply to all patients, visitors, medical staff members, vendors and employees, and no tobacco use of any kind will be permitted inside hospital or campus buildings, in parking lots or on the grounds.