Inconflict of laws, the termlex loci (Law Latin for "the law of the place")[1] is a shorthand version of thechoice of law rules that determine thelex causae (the laws chosen to decide a case).[2]
When a case comes before acourt, if the main features of the case (particularly the parties and the causes of action) are local, the court will then apply thelex fori, the prevailingmunicipal law, to decide the case. However, if there are "foreign" elements to the case, the court may then be obliged, under conflict of laws, to consider whether it hasjurisdiction to hear the case (seeforum shopping). The court must thencharacterise the issues to allocate the factual basis of the case to its relevant legal classes. The court may then be required to apply thechoice of law rules to decide thelex causae, the law to be applied to each cause of action.[3]
Relevant rules include the following.
Lex causae (Latin for "law of the cause"), inconflict of laws, is the law chosen by the forum court from the relevantlegal systems when it judges aninternational or interjurisdictionalcase. It refers to the usage of particular local laws as the basis or "cause" for the ruling, which would itself become part of referenced legal canon.
Conflict of laws regulates alllawsuits involving foreign law if the outcome of a legal action would differ by the laws applied. Once the forum court has ruled that it hasjurisdiction to hear the case, it must then decide which possible law is to be applied.
Thelex concursus (or, sometimes,lex fori consursus) is theLatin term for the "law of the place of insolvency proceedings" relating tocross-border insolvency.[4][5] It is also sometimes used more generally in relation to the distribution of a limited fund within the control of the court.[6]
Thelex domicilii orlex loci domicilii[2] is theLatin term for "law of the domicile" in theconflict of laws. Conflict is the branch ofpublic law regulating alllawsuits involving a "foreign" law element where a difference in result will occur depending on which laws are applied.
Lex fori (Latin: the law of the forum) is achoice of law rule. If applicable, it provides that the law of thejurisdiction orvenue in which a legal action is brought applies.[7][2]
When a court decides that it should, by reason of the principles ofconflict of law, resolve a given legal dispute by reference to the laws of another jurisdiction, thelex causae, thelex fori still governs procedural matters.[8]
In theconflict of laws,lex loci actus orlex actus[2] is the law of the place where the act occurred that gave rise to the legal claim. This is often confused withlex loci delicti commissi which is where the tort is committed. While typically they both point to the same location, in the case of product liability, for example, thelex loci actus would be the place of manufacturing, while thelex loci delicti commissi would be the place of injury.
Thelex loci arbitri is theLatin term for "law of the place wherearbitration is to take place" in theconflict of laws. Conflict is the branch ofpublic law regulating alllawsuits involving a "foreign" law element where a difference in result will occur depending on which laws are applied.
When a case comes before acourt and all the main features of the case are local, the court will apply thelex fori, the prevailing municipallaw, to decide the case. But if there are "foreign" elements to the case, the forum court may be obliged under the conflict of laws system to consider:
Thelex loci arbitri is an element in the choice of law rules applied to cases testing the validity of acontract. As an aspect of thepublic policy offreedom of contract, theparties to an agreement are free to include aforum selection clause and/or achoice of law clause and, unless there is a lack ofbona fides, these clauses will be considered valid. If there is no express selection of aproper law, the courts will usually take the nomination of a forum as a "connecting factor", i.e. a fact that links a case to a specific geographical location. For these purposes, one of the "forums" that may be selected is arbitration. Hence, the fact that the parties have chosen astate as the place of arbitration is an indication that parties may have intended the local law to apply. This indication will be weighed alongside other connecting factors. The state that has the largest number of connecting factors will be thelex causae applied to resolve the dispute between the parties. If there is a tie, the connecting factors which relate to performance will be given a greater weighting.
Lex loci celebrationis is aLatin term for a legal principle inEnglish common law, roughly translated as "the law of the land (lex loci) where it was celebrated". It refers to the validity of the union, independent of thelaws of marriage of the countries involved: where the two individuals have legal nationality or citizenship, or where they live (reside or are domiciled). The assumption under thecommon law is that such a marriage, when lawfully and validly celebrated under the relevant law of the land, is also lawful and valid.[citation needed]
In theUnited Kingdom, the jurisdiction ofEngland, or England and Wales, as well as in many other legal jurisdictions largely orpartly following the British tradition of jurisprudence, in addition to their modified local versions of the English common law, the legal principle behind the legal term was modified, qualified and further elaborated, both by legal developments in the common law (Lord Dunedin'sBerthiaume v D'Astous case (HL 1930) (AC 79), in which Dunedin in theAppellate Committee of the House of Lords ruled that "If a marriage is good by the laws of the country where it is effected, it is good all the world over, no matter whether the proceedings or ceremony which constituted marriage according to the law of the place would not constitute marriage in the country of the domicile of one or other of the spouses. If the so-called marriage is no marriage in the place where it is celebrated, there is no marriage anywhere, although the ceremonial proceedings if conducted in the place of the parties’ domicile would be considered a good marriage"), as well as by codification by Statute (Foreign Marriage Act 1892, 55 & 56Vict.,Chapter 23).[citation needed] Under the English common law, whether a party needs to be present is treated as a formality of themarriage ceremony, so if aproxy marriage is valid by the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated then it will be recognised in England.[9][10]
In theconflict of laws, thelex loci contractus is theLatin term for "law of the place where the contract is made".[11][2]
Thelex loci delicti commissi orlex loci delictus[2] is theLatin term for "law of the place where the delict [tort] was committed"[12] in theconflict of laws. Conflict of laws is the branch of law regulating alllawsuits involving a "foreign" law element where a difference in result will occur depending on which laws are applied.
The term is often shortened tolex loci delicti.
Lex loci protectionis (Latin: "[the] law of the place where the protection is [claimed]") is achoice of law rule applied to cases concerning the infringement ofintellectual property (IP) rights, such ascopyrights orpatents.
It stipulates that the law applied to such cases is the law of thelocus protectionis, that is, the law of the country for which legal protection for the intellectual property is claimed.[13] Consequently, the law of the country where the intellectual property was created or registered is not applied.
Lex loci protectionis is generally accepted as the prevailing choice of law rule for IP rights, at least as concerns the existence, validity, scope and duration of the rights.[13] Article 8 (1) of theEuropean Union'sRome II Regulation codifies it as follows:
The law applicable to a non-contractual obligation arising from an infringement of an intellectual property right shall be the law of the country for which protection is claimed.
Lex loci rei sitae (Latin for "law of the place where the property is situated"), or simplylex situs,[14] is the doctrine that the law governing the transfer of title to property is dependent upon and varies with the location of the property, for the purposes of theconflict of laws. Conflict is the branch ofpublic law regulating alllawsuits involving a "foreign" law element if a difference in result will occur, depending on which laws are applied.
Lex loci solutionis (Latin: "law of the place of performance"), inconflict of laws, is the law applied in the place of an event.
Lex loci solutionis is one of the possible choice of law rules applied to cases that test the validity of acontract or that deal with atort. For example, if a persondomiciled inBolivia and a person habitually resident inGermany make a contract by e-mail and agree to meet inArizona to research a book, there would be several possibly-relevant choice of law rules:
Lex patriae (Latin:law of the fatherland, in modern usage,nationality law), inconflict of laws, is the system ofpublic law applied to alawsuit if a choice is to be made between two or more laws that would change the outcome.
Locus in quo means, inBritishcommon law, the "scene of the event"[15]
The phrasecomes from theLatin language, meaning "The place in which".[16][17][18]
In civil cases,locus in quo refers to "the place where thecause of action arose", that is, the land to which thedefendanttrespassed.[19] In criminal cases, it may be used to refer to thescene of the crime. It may also be used, more generally, as any place mentioned, that is, thevenue or place mentioned.[20][21]