Conflict of Laws Notes | LL.B. (3 years) Semester 6 | Mumbai University | munotes

Contents

Module I Introduction and Stages of Analysis in Private International Law

1. What Private International Law Is 1
2. The Name and the Nature of the Subject 6
3. Public International Law in Outline: Sources, States and Treaties 10
4. The Scope of Private International Law 18
5. The History of the Conflict of Laws 24
6. The Statute Theory 30
7. The Theory of Comity 35
8. The Theory of Vested Rights 40
9. The Local Law Theory 44
10. Savigny's Seat of the Legal Relationship and Mancini's Theory of Nationality 47
11. The Modern American Approaches 52
12. The Theories Compared, and the Indian Position 56
13. The Sources of Private International Law 60
14. Private International Law in the Indian Statutes 65
15. What Characterisation Is 70
16. The Theories of Characterisation 76
17. Characterisation in the Cases 82
18. The Connecting Factor 90
19. Which Law Interprets the Connecting Factor, and When 96
20. The Stages of Analysis in a Conflict Case 102
21. Property and the Lex Situs 107
22. Movables: Transfer of Goods and Assignment of Debts 113
23. The Lex Causae 119
24. Renvoi: The Problem 123
25. The Forms of Renvoi and Their Criticism 128
26. Renvoi in the Cases 134
27. Where Renvoi Applies, Where It Does Not, and the Indian Position 141
28. The Scope of the Lex Causae 147
29. Proving Foreign Law 152
30. Foreign Penal, Revenue and Other Public Laws 158
31. Public Policy and Foreign Status 164
32. Substance and Procedure 170
33. Limitation, Priorities and Other Borderline Questions 176
34. Depecage 181
35. The Incidental Question 186
36. The Act of State Doctrine 192
37. Act of State, State Immunity and Non-Justiciability Distinguished 199

Module II Issues Relating to Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Foreign Judgment.

1. Jurisdiction in Private International Law 205
2. The Kinds of Jurisdiction 210
3. Actions in Personam and Actions in Rem 214
4. Actor Sequitur Forum Rei 219
5. Foreign Land and the Mocambique Rule 226
6. The Immunity of Foreign States 233
7. The Immunity of Diplomats, Consuls and International Organisations 243
8. In Personam Jurisdiction at Common Law: Presence and Submission 250
9. Service out of the Jurisdiction 256
10. Forum Non Conveniens 263
11. Parallel Proceedings and Anti-Suit Injunctions 269
12. In Personam Jurisdiction in India 276
13. Actions in Rem: The Nature of Admiralty Jurisdiction 285
14. The Admiralty Act, 2017: Jurisdiction and Maritime Claims 293
15. The Admiralty Act, 2017: Liens, Priorities and Procedure 299
16. From the Brussels Convention to the Brussels I Recast 304
17. Brussels Ia: Scope and the General Rule of Domicile 310
18. Brussels Ia: Special Jurisdiction 315
19. Brussels Ia: Insurance, Consumers, Employees and Exclusive Jurisdiction 320
20. Brussels Ia: Choice of Court, Appearance and Parallel Proceedings 326
21. Brussels Ia: Recognition and Enforcement Without Exequatur 332
22. Brussels I (2001) and the Recast (2012) Compared 338
23. The Mareva Injunction 344
24. The Worldwide Mareva and Its International Dimensions 351
25. Jurisdiction Clauses in Indian Law 357
26. Foreign Jurisdiction Clauses in India 362
27. Jurisdiction Clauses at Common Law and in the Hague Convention of 2005 367
28. Why Foreign Judgments Are Recognised 372
29. The Limits on Recognition and Enforcement 379
30. Section 13: When a Foreign Judgment Is Conclusive 386
31. Section 13, Clauses (a) to (c): Jurisdiction, Merits and Indian Law 393
32. Section 13, Clauses (d) to (f): Natural Justice, Fraud and Breach of Indian Law 400
33. Section 14 and Proving a Foreign Judgment 406
34. Section 44A: Executing a Decree from a Reciprocating Territory 411
35. The Suit on a Foreign Judgment 417
36. Judgments in Rem: Section 41 of the Evidence Act and Section 35 of the Sakshya Adhiniyam 425
37. The Brussels Convention, 1968: Scope and Jurisdiction 431
38. The Brussels Convention, 1968: Recognition and Enforcement 440

Module III Applicable Law: Family Matters

1. Domicile as the Deciding Factor 450
2. The Concept of Domicile 457
3. Domicile of Origin 463
4. Domicile of Choice: Residence and Intention 468
5. Domicile of Choice: Special Cases and Abandonment 474
6. The Domicile of Married Women 480
7. The Domicile of Minors and Persons of Unsound Mind 484
8. Commercial Domicile and the Domicile of Corporations 490
9. Domicile in the Indian Succession Act: Sections 4 to 9 495
10. Acquiring a New Domicile: Sections 10 to 13 499
11. Dependent Domicile: Sections 14 to 19 504
12. Domicile in the Constitution and the Supreme Court 508
13. Nationality and Habitual Residence 514
14. Family Matters with a Foreign Element: The Indian Framework 519
15. Jurisdiction of Indian Courts in Matrimonial Causes 524
16. Choice of Law in Matrimonial Causes 529
17. Succession with a Foreign Element 534
18. Marriage: Formal and Essential Validity 540
19. Formal Validity: Lex Loci Celebrationis and Its Exceptions 547
20. Capacity to Marry 554
21. Polygamous Marriages 563
22. The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969: Sections 1 to 16 571
23. The Foreign Marriage Act, 1969: Sections 17 to 30 577
24. NRI Marriages 584
25. Matrimonial Causes: The Reliefs 589
26. Recognition of Foreign Divorces in English Law 597
27. Recognition of Foreign Divorces in India 603
28. Legitimacy 609
29. Legitimation 614
30. Adoption with a Foreign Element 619
31. Inter-Country Adoption in India 624
32. The Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention, 1993 630
33. Guardianship with a Foreign Element 637
34. Child Custody Across Borders and the Welfare Principle 646
35. International Child Abduction and the Indian Courts 651
36. The Hague Child Abduction Convention, 1980 657
37. The Hague Conference on Private International Law 663
38. The Hague Conventions and India 668
39. The Hague Choice of Court Convention 2005 and Judgments Convention 2019 673

Module IV Applicable Law: Contracts and Commercial Matters

1. The Proper Law of the Contract 679
2. Express Choice of Law and Its Limits 684
3. Implied Choice and the Closest and Most Real Connection 689
4. Capacity to Contract 695
5. Formal and Material Validity of Contracts 700
6. Interpretation, Performance and Discharge 706
7. Transnational Contracts in Indian Law 713
8. From the Rome Convention to Rome I 718
9. Rome I: Freedom of Choice 723
10. Rome I: The Applicable Law in the Absence of Choice 728
11. Rome I: Carriage, Consumer, Insurance and Employment Contracts 732
12. Rome I: Overriding Mandatory Provisions, Public Policy and the Reach of the Applicable Law 736
13. The IMF Agreement and Exchange Contracts 740
14. Exchange Control and Contracts 747
15. Foreign Money Obligations: Money of Account and Money of Payment 754
16. Foreign Instruments and the Negotiable Instruments Act 762
17. Negotiable Instruments: The English Rules and the Geneva Conventions 768
18. Torts at Common Law: The Rule of Double Actionability 776
19. Torts After 1995, and the Indian Position 785
20. Torts on Ships, in the Air and Across Borders 790
21. Rome II: Scope and the General Rule 796
22. Rome II: Special Torts 802
23. Rome II: Unjust Enrichment, Negotiorum Gestio, Culpa in Contrahendo and the Common Rules 807