Book Review: Conflict of Laws
| Author | Stephan Rammeloo |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0200900106 |
| Date | 01 March 2002 |
| Published date | 01 March 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
9 MJ 1 (2002) 104
Book Reviews
J.G. Collier, Conflict of Laws (3d ed.), Cambridge University Press, 2001, lv
+ 403 pages, paperback, £ 27.95
Private international law is ‘a complex and rapidly changing area’. This observation is made
on the cover of this ‘introduction to the principles’ of the area of law involved. New
developments concerning in particular tort, jurisdiction, staying of actions and the growing
influence of European Union Law on UK private international law, inspired Collier, Fellow
of Trinity Hall and Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge, to write a new, third
edition (the law being stated as it stood on 1 March 2001) of the monograph ‘Conflict of
Laws’.
Before commenting, a brief survey of the book’s contents must be provided. The preface,
table of statutes and table of cases precede seven parts, each of which is divided into various
chapters. Part I concentrates on general principles, its chapters are devoted to: (1)
introduction, (2) characteristics of the English conflict of laws, (3) choice of law rules, (4)
proof of foreign law, (5) domicile and residence and (6) substance and procedure. Part II
deals with jurisdiction and foreign judgments, in particular (7) jurisdiction of English courts,
(8) staying of English actions and restraint of foreign proceedings, (9) foreign judgments,
(10) jurisdiction and judgments in the European Union and EFTA and (11) arbitration. Part
III focuses on the law of obligations, specifically (12) contract and (13) tort. Part IV is about
property and succession, namely (14) property inter vivos, (15) succession, (16) matrimonial
property relations and (17) trusts. Part V, family law, concentrates on (18) marriage, (19)
matrimonial causes and (20) children. The issue of exclusion of foreign laws is covered in
Part VI, chapter (21) being devoted to public policy. Part VII concludes with theoretical
considerations in two chapters entitled (22) reasons for and basis of the conflict of laws and
(23) public international law and the conflict of laws. The work is completed with an index.
Special attention is given to the following issues. The first part is a useful eye-opener to
what exactly the conflict of laws in everyday life is about. The ‘glossary’ of Latin terms (lex
causae, lex actus, lex domicilii, lex fori, lex loci actus, lex loci contractus, lex loci
celebrationis, lex loci delicti commissi, lex loci solutionis, lex situs) is however rather poor,
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