Lex fori

Lex fori

In Conflict of Laws, the Latin term lex fori literally means the "law of the forum" and it is distinguished from the "lex causae" which is the law the forum actually applies to resolve the particular case.

Explanation

Sovereignty comes into being through a process of recognition by the international community in which a "de facto" state is formally accepted as a "de jure" state and so becomes the legitimate government with territorial control over a defined area of land and all the people who reside within its borders. One of the most important sovereign powers of any government is to enact laws and to define the extent of their application.

Some laws will apply to all the land and its peoples. Others will be of more limited application. These laws will be applied through different bodies and institutions. Some will be formally constituted as courts. Other bodies will exercise specific functions within quasi-judicial, administrative, religious or other frameworks. For example, in Pakistan, section 7 Muslim Family Law Ordinance enacted in 1961 reformed the traditional form of Islamic divorce known as the talaq by requiring that notification of the pronouncement of the talaq must be delivered to the Chairman of a local administrative unit known as the Union Council which must consider whether the parties can be reconciled. All such bodies are termed "forums" and each state will carefully define which laws may be considered or applied, by whom, and in which circumstances. These are the issue of jurisdiction and procedure.

When a lawsuit is instituted and the court has accepted that it has jurisdiction, the parties will normally expect the local laws to apply, reflecting a presumption of territorialityndash that each state is sovereign within its own borders and the laws of no other state or international body will apply extraterritorially or supranationally. If foreign laws did apply, the state would be less than sovereign within its own borders. However, as social mobility has increased and the Internet encourages people to trade across national boundaries, a need to recognise the relevance and importance of foreign laws to dispute resolution has arisen. Hence, within the precise limits set by the "lex fori", local courts may sometimes apply one or more foreign laws as the "lex causae" if the local politics, public policy and the dictates of justice require it. For a more complete explanation, refer to the pages on characterisation, and choice of law.

A further issue for the lex fori to consider is the situation where a dispute has already been litigated in another state. Can the foreign judgment be recognised and enforced by action in the courts of a second state? To require cases to be relitigated is expensive and time-consuming, so most states with developed legal systems have entered into mutual or multilateral treaties allowing for judgments to be enforced unless one or more specified defects can be shown (see enforcement of foreign judgments).

See also

*Lex causae
*Lex loci celebrationis
*Lex loci contractus
*Lex loci delicti commissi
*Lex situs
*Privilegium fori


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  • lex fori — / leks fȯr ˌī, fȯr ē/ n [New Latin, law of the court]: the law of the court in which a proceeding is brought Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. lex fori …   Law dictionary

  • Lex fori — (lat. für Recht bzw. Gesetz des Gerichts) ist eine der wesentlichen Rechtsanwendungsregeln für das Internationale Privatrecht. Der Begriff lex fori bezeichnet im Internationalen Privatrecht das am Ort des angerufenen Gerichts geltende Recht. Es… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lex fori — La Lex fori ( ley del foro ) es una locución latina ocupada en el Derecho internacional privado, que significa que será aplicable la ley de la nacionalidad del juez que conoce del asunto . Cuando se presenta ante un juez un asunto jurídico que… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Lex fori — La Lex fori ( ley del foro ) es una locución latina ocupada en el Derecho internacional privado, que significa la ley de la nacionalidad del juez que conoce del asunto contencioso . Cuando se presenta ante un juez un asunto jurídico que contiene… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • lex fori — /leks foray/ The law of the forum, or court; that is, the positive law of the state, country, or jurisdiction of whose judicial system the court where the suit is brought or remedy sought is an integral part. Substantive rights are determined by… …   Black's law dictionary

  • lex fori — /leks foray/ The law of the forum, or court; that is, the positive law of the state, country, or jurisdiction of whose judicial system the court where the suit is brought or remedy sought is an integral part. Substantive rights are determined by… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Lex fori —     Définition de Lex fori     L expression Lex fori est d origine latine, elle signifie la loi (lex) applicable au lieu où se trouve le tribunal (for) devant lequel l affaire a été portée . En français la loi du for .     S agissant de la loi de …   Lexique de Termes Juridiques

  • lex fori — право, действующее в месте проведения арбитража (см. seat of arbitration). Иногда этот же термин используется для обозначения права, которым руководствуется государственный суд при решении вопросов о признании и приведении в исполнение… …   Glossary of international commercial arbitration

  • lex fori — [lɛks fɔ:rʌɪ] noun Law the law of the country in which an action is brought. Origin L., law of the court …   English new terms dictionary

  • lex fori — The law of the jurisdiction in which the litigation occurs, controlling all that part of the litigation which is concerned merely with remedy. 16 Am J2d Confl L § 11 …   Ballentine's law dictionary

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