Private International Law and International Jurisdiction Review

Flashcards covering vocabulary and key concepts from Private International Law lecture notes, including choice of law, jurisdiction, and parallel litigation.

Private International Law

A non-substantive field of law applied to disputes with connections to multiple countries to determine which national law governs the case.

Lex Fori

The law of the forum, meaning the national law of the court where the legal proceeding is heard.

Connecting Factor

A geographical link, such as nationality, domicile, or the location of an object, used to facilitate the choice of law process.

Connecting Category

A specific field of law, such as Tort, Property, or Family Law, used to define the scope of a legal question before applying a connecting factor.

Lex loci damni

A choice of law rule designating the law of the country where the damage occurs.

Lex rei sitae

A choice of law rule designating the law of the country where the property or thing is actually located.

Substance Neutrality

A characteristic of multilateral choice of law where the rule focuses on geographical correctness and does not evaluate if the final law is favorable or unfavorable.

Exception Clause (Escape Clause)

A provision in modern systems, like Rome I and II, allowing a judge to ignore standard connecting factors if a case is manifestly more closely connected to another country.

Loi de police

Also known as an overriding mandatory provision; it is a rule crucial for a State's public interest that applies immediately to an international case regardless of the designated law.

Characterization (Qualification)

The first step in the Choice of Law process where a court decides which legal category or box a problem fits into to identify the correct choice of law rule.

Lege Fori

The principle that characterization of a legal problem is done according to the concepts and laws of the forum where the case is heard.

Lege Europae

The principle that concepts in EU Regulations, like Rome I and II, are defined autonomously by the Court of Justice of the European Union ($CJEU$).

Renvoi au premier degré (Remission)

Occurs when the choice of law rule of the forum points to a foreign law, which then points back to the law of the forum.

Renvoi au second degré

Occurs when the choice of law rule of the forum points to a foreign law, which then designates a third country's law.

Non-Disposable Rights

Rights that parties cannot freely waive or change by agreement, such as family status or parenthood, requiring a judge to apply choice of law rules ex officio.

Public Policy Exception (Ordre public international)

A universal tool allowing a court to refuse a foreign law if its application is manifestly incompatible with the forum's most fundamental principles.

The Cardozo Test

Derived from Loucks v. Standard Oil Co., it states that foreign law is only rejected if it violates a fundamental principle of justice or some deep-rooted tradition of the common weal.

Inlandsbeziehung

The requirement of a proximity or intensity of connection where the dispute must have a meaningful link to the forum to justify invoking the public policy exception.

Governmental Interest Analysis

A methodology developed by Brainerd Currie that treats choice of law as a process of interpreting the underlying policies and interests of the states involved.

False Conflict

A scenario in interest analysis where only one state has a legitimate interest in applying its law to the dispute.

True Conflict

A scenario where two or more states have substantial and legitimate interests that would be advanced or thwarted depending on which law is applied.

Unprovided-for Case

An anomaly in interest analysis where neither state involved in the litigation has a vital policy stake in having its law applied.

Loss-Allocating Rules

Rules that focus on the relationship between parties to determine who bears financial loss, typically favoring the law of the common domicile.

Conduct-Regulating Rules

Rules aimed at providing incentives for safe behavior, typically favoring the law of the place where the conduct occurred.

Most Significant Relationship Test

The core of the Second Restatement ($§145$ and $§6$), which balances factual contacts and policy considerations to determine the applicable law.

Party Autonomy

The principle granting parties the legal power to designate the applicable law themselves, commonly recognized in contract law.

Minimum Contacts Doctrine

Established in International Shoe Co. v. Washington ($1945$), it allows jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants if the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.

General Jurisdiction

Adjudicatory authority allowing a court to hear any claim against a defendant who is essentially at home in the forum state, such as through domicile or principal place of business.

Specific Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction limited to suits that arise out of or relate to the defendant's specific activities and purposeful availment within the forum state.

Locus Actus

The place where the causal event giving rise to damage originated or was set in motion.

Locus Damni

The place where the direct, immediate physical or financial damage actually materialized.

Mosaic Jurisdiction

A jurisdictional principle in cyber torts where courts of a state have jurisdiction only over the specific damage caused within that state's territory.

Characteristic Obligation Model

Used in Art. $7(1)(b)$ of Brussels Ibis, it standardizes jurisdiction for sales and services based on the place of delivery or performance rather than the specific breach.

Litigated Obligation Model

The residual model under Art. $7(1)(a)$ of Brussels Ibis (based on De Bloos), focusing on the specific contractual obligation that was allegedly breached.

Exorbitant Jurisdiction

Jurisdictional power based on weak or unfair connecting factors, such as the pure nationality of the plaintiff or the temporary physical presence of the defendant.

Transient Jurisdiction (Tag Jurisdiction)

A common law rule, upheld in Burnham v. Superior Court, allowing jurisdiction over a non-resident based solely on personal service of process while they are physically in the territory.

Forum Shopping

The practice of deliberately choosing a specific court or forum to gain strategic advantages in procedural or substantive law.

Lis Pendens

A doctrine in civil law traditions to resolve parallel litigation by giving priority to the court where the lawsuit was filed first.

Triple Identity Test

The cumulative requirement for lis pendens: identity of the parties, identity of the legal ground (cause), and identity of the remedy (object).

Anti-suit Injunction

A judicial order from a common law court restraining a party from instituting or continuing legal proceedings in a foreign court; prohibited within the EU by Turner v. Grovit.