Conflict of Laws: A Brief History

Being of Roman law origin, conflict of laws traces its roots in the settling of
disputes involving foreigners, called ius gentium, in which later it had developed into
what is referred to as the law that governs relations of States in public international law.
The cultivation of different municipal laws of Italian City States prompted the emergence
of the “Statute” to questions of choice of law, to which it is classified into statuta realia,
statute personalia and statute mixta. In France, resolving conflicts between persons
governed by different laws, determining what law would govern contracts between
different nationals and formulating the principle of universal succession had all taken
place, in which the latter was even followed in the Spanish Civil Code and adopted in
the Philippine Civil Code.

The term “conflict of laws” was first used by Dutch jurists, asserting that the State
was under no obligation to apply a foreign law unless imposed by treaty, by comitas
gentium, or on consideration of courtesy and expediency. They also developed the
territorial principle which provides that the laws of every State may operate only within
the territorial limit of such State, although its force could be retained everywhere as long
as it will not prejudice the subjects of the sovereign whose recognition is sought.

Codification of national laws brought about the inclusion of conflict of laws

provisions, and the French Civil Code of 1804 became a pattern for the Civil Codes of
various countries, including the Philippines. Different schools of thought on the concept
of conflict of laws arose, such as the principle of comity of nations, the “vested rights”,
the “resultant benefits”, the theory of situs or “seat of legal relationship” and the
nationality theory.

Groups like the neo-statutists, internationalists and territorialists follow different

theories relating to the resolution of conflict of laws. The law of the most significant
relationship and policy-centered approaches also came about.

Such conflict of laws principles were eventually adopted in Articles 15, 16 and 17
of our own Civil Code, and became part of the law curriculum and even a separate
subject of the bar examinations, but was then merged with Civil Law.

RICHARD L. CHICO
LLB-III BC Law