Conflicts of Laws law, or where the domestic law is silent or not exclusively c.
ent or not exclusively c. Lex situs the applicable law regarding the
Chapter I: Introduction
1. Reasons Why Conflict of Laws Evolved
GR: The law of one country has no effect of its own force
beyond the limits of its sovereignty from which its
authority is derived, and that the obligation of every law is
confined to the state in which it is established and it can
attach only to those who are its citizens and others who
are within its territorial jurisdiction
GR: Laws have no extraterritorial effect and application in
another country
XPN: As our laws so provide with respect to its citizens and
nationals
Art. 15, NCC. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or
to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are
binding upon citizen of the Philippines, even though living
abroad.
U.S. Restatement of the Law, Second, Conflict of Laws 2d.
Reason for COL: The word is composed of territorial
states having separate and different systems of law.
Events and transactions occur, and issues arise, that may
have a significant relationship to more than one state,
making necessary a special body of rules and methods for
their ordering and resolution.
2. Conflict of Laws Defined
Blacks. Conflict of laws is the inconsistency or difference
between the laws of different states countries, arising in
the case of (a) persons who have acquired rights, (b)
incurred obligations, injuries or damages (OID), or (c)
made contracts, within the territory of two or more
jurisdictions.
Hence, that branch of jurisprudence, arising from the
diversity of the laws of different nations, states or
jurisdictions (NSJ), in their application to rights and
remedies, which reconciles the inconsistency; or decides
which law or system is to govern in the particular case, or
settles the degree of force to be accorded to the law of
another jurisdiction, (the acts or rights in question having
arisen under it) either where it varies from the domestic
applicable to the case in point.
American Jurisprudence. "Conflict of laws is in reality a
part of the subject of international law, which is commonly
divided into two aspects, public and private. Public
international law, or the law of nations, is that which
regulates the political intercourse of nations with each
other or concerns questions of rights between nations,
whereas private international laws or conflict of law, is
that which regulates the comity of states in giving effect in
one to the municipal laws of another relating to private
persons, or concerns the rights of person within the
territory and dominion of one state or nations, by reason
of acts, private or public, done within the dominion of
another, and which is based on the broad general principle
that one country will respect and give effect to the laws of
another so far as can be done consistently with its own
interest.
Two aspects of a treaty:
(a) As an international agreement between states
(b) As a municipal law for the people of each state
to observe in their (1) contractual and (2) other
relations
3. Other Terms Defined
a. Foreign element a factual situation that cuts
across territorial lines and is thus affected by the
diverse laws of two or more states.
Saudi Arabia Airlines v. CA. The presence of a foreign
element is inevitable since social and economic affairs of
individuals and associations are rarely confined to the
geographic limits of their birth or conception.
b. Comity the recognition which one state allows
within its territory to the legislative, executive,
or judicial acts of another state,/ having due
regard both to (a) international duty and
convenience (IDC) and (b) to the rights of its own
citizens or of other persons who are under the
protection of its laws.
Comity is however neither a matter of absolute
right nor a mere courtesy
acquisition, transfer and devolution (ATD) of the
title to property is the law where the property is
located
Laurel v. Garcia. A conflict of law situation involving real
property arises when:
(1) There is a dispute over the title or ownership of
an immovable such that:
a. The capacity to take and transfer immovable
(TTI)
b. The formalities of conveyance (FC)
c. The essential validity and effect of the transfer
(EV-ET), or
d. The interpretation and effect of conveyance
(IEC) are to be determined.
(2) A foreign law on land ownership and its
conveyance is asserted to conflict with a
domestic law on the same matters.
d. Lex fori law of the forum, where the case is
filed. The term is used in contract of denoting
the law of the place where a transaction took
place or where the wrong causing damage or
injury occurred.
e. Lex loci actus the law of the place where the
act was done
f. Lex loci celebrationis the law of the place
where the contract is entered into
g. Lex loci contractus The proper law applicable
in deciding the rights and liabilities of the
contracting parties
Test to determine lex loci contractus: The system of law
with which the transaction has the closest and most real
connection.
h. Lex loci delictus the law of the place where
offense or wrong took place.
i. Lex loci domicile the law of the place of
domicile of a person
j. Lex rei sitae; lex situs the law of the place
where a thing is situated.
k. Kilberg doctrine In conflict of laws, it is a rule
to the effect that the forum is not bound by the
law of the place of injury or death as to the
 limitation on damages for wrongful act because
such rule is procedural and hence the law of the
forum governs this issue.
l. Center of gravity doctrine/most significant
relationship rule/grouping of contract Choice
of law problems in conflict of laws are resolved
by the application of law of the jurisdiction
which has the most significant relationship to or
contract with event and parties to litigation and
the issue therein.
4. Conflict of Laws Essentially Involves Two
Remedies
a. The enforcement of rights that accrued
completely or partly in a foreign country in the
form of action filed in Philippine courts by a
citizen or an aggrieved person
b. The recognition and enforcement of foreign
judgment, in the form of a petition or complaint
to enforce such foreign judgment filed in
Philippine courts by the prevailing party.
GR: Rights acquired under a foreign statute may be
enforced elsewhere, i.e. in the Philippines, in comity, if not
against public policy
The recognition or enforcement of a foreign
judgment is also based on comity, subject to the
qualifications prescribed in Rule 39, Sec. 48 of
the ROC
Rule 39, Sec. 48. Effect of Foreign Judgments or Final
Orders The effect of a judgment or final order of a
tribunal of a foreign country, having jurisdiction to render
the judgment or final order is as follows:
a. In case of a judgment or final order upon a
specific thing, the judgment or final order is
conclusive upon the title to the thing; and
b. In case of a judgment or final order against a
person, the judgment or final order is
presumptive evidence of a right as between the
parties and their successors in interest by a
subsequent title.
In either case, the judgment or final order may be repelled
by evidence of a want of jurisdiction, want of notice to the
party, collusion, fraud, or clear mistake of law or fact.
GR: The enforcement in the country of a right which established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their
accrued in a foreign country or that of a foreign judgment execution.
rendered by a foreign court involves the extraterritorial
application of foreign laws, upon which the right or Prohibitive laws concerning (a) persons, their acts or
judgment is based, to which the country may consent property, and (b) those which have for their object public
expressly or impliedly order, public policy or good customs shall not be rendered
ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or
XPN: Where the countrys prohibitive laws or public determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign
policies provide otherwise. country.
Sources of Conflict of laws Art. 26, FC. All marriages solemnized outside the
Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in the
1. Constitution country where they were solemnized, and valid there as
2. Statutes enacted legislature such, shall also be valid in this country, except those
3. Rules and regulations issued by administrative prohibited under Art. 35(1), (4), (5), (6), 36, 37, 38.
tribunal or agencies
4. Judicial rulings of the SC Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a
5. Treaties foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter
6. NCC validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating
7. FC him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise
8. Rules of Court have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
Other sources (persuasive effect): Art. 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment
by reason of the silence, obscurity or insuffiency of the
laws
9. Foreign decisions of foreign courts
10. Treatises Gregorio Araneta, Inc v. Rodas. When the law does not
11. Commentaries provide a rule or norm for the court to follow in deciding a
12. Studies of well-known authors question submitted to it, but leave it to the court to
determine it in one way or another to his discretion, the
Art. 16, NCC. Real property as well as personal property is judge is not absolutely free to act at his pleasure or will or
subject to the law of the country where it is situated arbitrarily.
However, intestate and testamentary succession, both GR: Foreign laws are independent of, and are not superior
with respect to the (1) order of succession and to the (2) than, Philippines laws, and they cannot be forced upon
amount of successional rights and to (3) the intrinsic Philippine courts
validity of testamentary provisions shall be regulated by
the national law of the country of the person whose XPN: Consent, express or implied
succession is under consideration, whatever may be the
nature of the property and regardless of the country When foreign judgment or final order may be repelled:
wherein said property may be found.
1. By evidence of want of jurisdiction
Art. 17, NCC. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, 2. Want of notice to the party
and other public instruments shall be governed by the 3. Collusion
laws of the country in which they are executed. 4. Fraud, or
5. Clear mistake of law or fact.
Where the acts referred to are executed before the
diplomatic or consular officials of the Republic of the 5. Conflict of Laws Presupposes Conflict
Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities
Laurel v. Garcia. Conflict of laws assumes that there is a
conflict between a local law and a foreign law involving a
foreign element or elements, which requires a
determination of which law should apply.
GR: No foreign law has extra-territorial applicability in the
country
b. The court might decide the case by its own local
law
c. Special rules might be devised to deal with the
case in a manner designed to promote the
smooth function of the international and
interstate systems and to do justice to the
parties.

XPN: If the court of forum determines that there is a
conflict of laws and what is applicable in the main is a
foreign law and decides to apply it, in the absence of
prohibitive law or public policy to the contrary
Where the case involves no foreign element and the local
laws applicable on the matter are conflicting, courts
resolve them:
1. By reconciling the two or more laws, if possible
2. If they cannot be reconciled, by considering one
law as having been impliedly repealed by the
later statute
3. By excepting one law from the operation of the
other, and on the basis thereof, decide the case.
6. Foreign Element in Conflict of Laws Situation
8. Illustrative Case: Rights of Foreigner Against
That of a Citizen
Where the question involves the rights of a
citizen and a foreigner which the latter has
violated, in a case where the applicable law
favors the foreigner, Philippine courts will defer
to the rights of the citizen in order to subserve
the ends of justice.
Salvacion v. Central Bank. The peculiar circumstances
obtaining make the law not applicable to the case of the
12-year old rape victim and that the banks should comply
with the writ of execution and release the dollar deposit in
favor of the victim, the Court applied the principles of right
and justice to prevail over the strict and literal words of
the statute

Saudia Arabian Airlines v. CA. From the standpoint of the

Philippines, in cases filed in the country, the foreign
element may consist of:

(1) Philippine citizen or resident of the country, in

relation to a foreign national or entity or to acts
done or events that occurred in a foreign
country or property situated therein
(2) Property located in the Philippines or acts done
or events that took place in the Philippines
involving a foreign national or entity and a
citizen of this country.

7. Three Ways of Dealing with Conflict of Laws

Cases

a. Court might refuse to hear the case and dismiss

it

Forum of non conveniens a court having jurisdiction may

refuse to hear the case because there may be very
minimum contact with respect to the transactions or the
parties.