One-page Summary of the Remaining Topics

The remaining topics cover the choice of law in conflict cases involving the
following: contracts; wills and succession; torts and crimes; and those affecting
corporations and other juridical entities. Lastly, the recognition and enforcement of
foreign judgments was also covered.
The general principles and law on conflict of law cases underpin how the
foregoing are resolved.
As to contracts, where a contract involves contacts with different states, the
choice of law is subject to stipulation. Similarly well-settled is the principle that the
choice of the parties will not be respected when the choice is violative of a
fundamental policy of the State with a materially greater interest than the chosen
state.
As to wills and succession, as provided by the Civil Code, real property as
well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of
succession and to the amount of successional rigts and to the intrinsic validity of
testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose
succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and
regardless of the country wherein said property is found. As regards intestacy,
Philippine law is clear: national law governs.
As to torts and crimes, the classical theory of lex delicti commissi or whatever
the law of the place where the tort was committed held determined liabilities and
awards. However, globalization presented more complex situations that impelled
the development of principles and tools to address conflict of laws cases in this
regard. These include the following: (1)
The Most Significant Relationship; (2)
Interest Analysis; (3) Cavers Principle of Preference.
As those affecting corporations and other juridical entities, the personal law
of the corporation is the law of the state where it is incorporated. The exceptions to
this rule include Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions, and the so called
Control Test During War.
As to recognition and enforcement of foreign judgment, it is important to note
the requisites, these include: (1) the foreign judgment was rendered by a judicial or
a quasi-judicial tribunal which had jurisdiction over the parties & the case in the
proper judicial proceeding; (2) the judgment must be valid under the laws of the
court that rendered it; (3) the judgment must be final & executory to constitute res
judicata in another action; (4) the state where the foreign judgment was obtained
allows recognition or enforcement of Philippine judgment; (5) the judgment must be

for a fixed sum of money; (6) the foreign judgment must not be contrary to the
public policy or the good morals of the country where it is to be enforced; and (7)
the judgment must not have been obtained by fraud, collusion, mistake of fact or
mistake