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The Conflict of Personal Laws, Part 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Edoardo Vitta
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Extract

I. Historical and Comparative Backround: (1) Early medieval times. (2) The Ottoman Empire and successor States. (3) Personal laws in the colonies. (4) State and Church law as personal laws.

II. The Personal Laws as Autonomous Legal Systems: (1) Notion of legal system. (2) Personal legal systems. (3) Relationships between personal legal systems and between such systems and the State. (4) The dominant position of the State. (5) The personal laws as autonomous legal systems.

III. The Conflict of Personal Laws and the Interpretation of its Rules: (1) State legislation relating to personal laws. (2) The problem of qualification. (3) The renvoi problem. (4) Public policy.

IV. Connecting Principles: (1) Membership of an ethnic or religious group. (2) Influence of the will of the parties. (3) Other connecting principles.

V. Nature and Historical Function of the Conflict of Personal Laws: (1) The legal nature of the Conflict of Personal Laws. (2) The historical function of the conflict of Personal Laws.

Type
Articles
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Israel Law Review , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , April 1970 , pp. 170 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1970

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References

** Sections IV and V will appear in Vol 5, No. 3 in July, 1970.

1 On the origin, characteristics, operation and decline of the conflict of personal laws in medieval times, see: Stouff, , “Etude sur le principe de la personnalité des lois depuis les invasions barbares jusqu'au XII siècle”, Revue Bourguignonne de l'enseignement supérieur. 1894, pp. 1 ff. and 273 ff.Google Scholar; Neumeyer, , “Die gemeinschaftliche Entwicklung des internationalen Privat und Strafrecht bis Bartolus”, Vol. 1, Die Geltung der Stammesrechte in Italien, Munich, 1901, pp. 8 ff.Google Scholar; Meijers, , “L'histoire des principes fondamentaux du droit international privé à partir du Moyen Age; spécialement dans l'Europe occidentale”, Recueil des Cours de l' Académie de Droit International de la Haye, 1934, Vol. 39, pp. 549 ff.Google Scholar; Paradisi, , Storia del diritto internazionale nel Medio Evo, Milan, 1940, pp. 470 ff.Google Scholar; Arminjon, , Précis de droit international privé, Paris, 1947 (3rd ed.), Vol. 1, pp. 71 ff.Google Scholar; id. “Les systèmes juridiques complexes et les conflits de lois et de juridictions auxquelles ils donnent lieu”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1949, Vol. 74, pp. 79 ff.

2 See Paradisi, op. cit., pp. 442 and 462 ff.

3 See Arminjon, Précis, op. cit., 71.

4 On the legislation of the former Ottoman Empire and the conflict of personal laws therein, see Young, , Corps de droit Ottoman. Recueil des Codes, Lois, Règlements, Ordonnances et Actes plus importants du droit intérieur, et études sur le droit coutumier de l'Empire Ottoman, Oxford, 1925, 7 vols.Google Scholar; Messina, Traité de droit civil Egyptien mixte, Alexandria, 1927–30, I. esp. at pp. 80 ff.

5 For the text of the Hatti Houmayoun see British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 47, 1363.

6 See Arminjon, , “Le droit international privé en droit interne, principalement dans les pays de l'Islam”, Journal du droit international privé, 1912, pp. 706 ff.Google Scholar As to the legal status of non-Moslems in Moslem law, see Cardahi, , “La conception et la pratique du droit international privé dans l'Islam”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1937, Vol. 60, pp. 511 ffGoogle Scholar. and authors there quoted.

7 See Ginossar, , “Israel Law: Components and Trends”, (1966) 1 Is.L.R. 380.Google Scholar

8 The name Capitulation was given to the system of extraterritoriality applied to foreigners in the Ottoman Empire and in certain parts of the Far East. The system was postulated upon a series of bilateral treaties, based upon the text of the French Capitulation which was drawn up in the year 1535. See du Rausas, Pelissié, Lerégime des Capitulations dans l'Empire Ottoman, Paris, 1902.Google Scholar

9 See Ostrorog, , The Angora Reform, London, 1927Google Scholar; Sacretan, , “Le nouveau Code Civil turc”, Bulletin de la Société de Législation Comparée, Vol. 56 (1926–1927).Google Scholar

10 See Streit, , “La conception du droit international privé d'après la doctrine et la pratique en Grèce”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1927, Vol. 20, pp. 115 ff.Google Scholar

11 See Daneff, , “La conception du droit international privé d'après la doctrine et la pratique en Bulgarie”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1930, Vol. 33, pp. 489 ff.Google Scholar

12 See Hoyer, , “Das Bulgarische Ehegesetz vom 3 Mai 1945”, Oesterreichische Juristen Zeitung, 1948, pp. 313 ff.Google Scholar In Yugoslavia as well a law on marriage of April 3, 1946, and a law on parents and children of November 26, 1947, have laid down that only civil marriages are recognized. See Zlako, , “Das Jugoslavische Ehegesetz”, Juristiche Blaetter, 1947, pp. 56 ff.Google Scholar

13 See Chébat, , Les étrangers devant la justice en Syrie et au Liban, Paris, 1938Google Scholar; Khairallah, , The Law of Inheritance in the Republics of Syria and Lebanon, Beirut, 1941Google Scholar; Gannagé, , La compétence des juridictions confessionnelles au Liban et en Syrie, Beirut, 1948.Google Scholar

14 See Goadby, , International and Inter-Religious Private Law in Palestine, Jerusalem, 1926Google Scholar; Vitta, , The Conflict of Laws in Matters of Personal Status in Palestine, Tel Aviv, 1947.Google Scholar

15 See especially Messina, op. cit.

16 See Tedeschi, , “On the Movement of Reception and Codification in the Neighbouring Countries”, Studies in Israel Law, Jerusalem, 1960, pp. 84 ff.Google Scholar

17 On the methods adopted by Egypt to bring about the modernization and westernization of her law, see the series of articles by Anderson in The Muslim World, 1950, 1951 and 1952. It is noteworthy that the influence of French law was also noticeable in the Persian Civil Code of 1928–1935; see Amiran, , “Dans quelle mesure le droit civil Iranien s'est inspiré du code civil français?”, Bulletin de la Société de Législation Comparée, 1937, pp. 66 ff.Google Scholar

18 The Syrian Code, however, does not include the sections relating to land law of the Egyptian Code, as in this matter there existed original Syrian legislation since 1932.

19 Thus Iraq, whose legislation is on the whole on English lines, has been partly influenced by French law, through the Egyptian codification.

20 Of special interest is the Succession Law of 1965, mostly drawn up on a wide comparative basis, but also inspired by the main principles of Jewish rabbinical law. See Yadin, , “Reflections on a New Law of Succession”, (1966) 1 Is.L.R. 132.Google Scholar Other Israeli enactments modifying the impact of religious laws and jurisdictions, are: the Age of Marriage Law of 1950, the Women's Equal Rights Law of 1951, the Rabbinical Courts' Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law of 1953, the Dayanim (Jewish religious judges) Law of 1955, the Druze Religious Courts Law of 1962, the Capacity and Guardianship Law, also of 1962. See Gottschalk, , “Personal Status and Religious Law in Israel”, (1954) I. & Comp. L. Q. 673 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Goitein, , Muslim Law in Israel, Jerusalem, 1957Google Scholar; Kister, , “Law of Personal Status”, International Lawyers' Convention in Israel, 1958, pp. 244 ff.Google Scholar; Silberg, , Personal Status in Israel (in Hebrew), Jerusalem, 1961Google Scholar; Livneh, , “La loi de 1960 sur l'adoption des enfants en Israël”, (1961) Revue internationale de droit comparé 591 ff.Google Scholar; Chigier, , “The Rabbinical Courts in the State of Israel”, (1957) 2 Is.L.R. 147.Google Scholar It is interesting to point out that, in addition to the Moslem countries and Israel, the problem of taking into consideration traditional law has also arisen in India, in this case Hindu law. See Fitzgerald, Vesey, “The Projected Codification of Hindu Law”, (1947) J. Comp. Leg. & I.L. 19.Google Scholar

21 On the personal laws and their conflicts in the colonies, see the main French (Solus, Dareste, François and Mariol, Girault, Merignhac, Camerlynck, Devèze, Luchaire, Rolland and Lampué), Italian (Romano, Mondaini, Malvezzi, Cucinotta, Sertoli-Salis, Borsi, Quadri) and English (e.g. Burger) treatises on colonial legislation. The following more specific works (some of a retrospective character) may also be quoted: Kollewijn, “Interracial Private Law (The Colonial Conflict of Laws)”, The Effects of Western Influence on Native Civilizations in the Malay Archipelago, edited by Schrieke, Batavia, 1929; id. “Conflicts of Western and Non-Western Law”, (1951) Int. L. Q. 307; Wengler, , “Die Kollisionsnormen im Recht der italienischen Kolonien”, Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, 1937, pp. 71 ff.Google Scholar; id.Das Kollisionsrecht der englischen Kolonien, ibid., 1940, pp. 410 ff.; Lampué, , “Les conflicts de lois interrégionaux et interpersonnels dans le système juridique français”, Revue critique de droit international privé, 1954, pp. 249 ff.Google Scholar; Merlin, Jambu, “Essai sur l'histoire des conflits de lois au Levant et en Afrique du Nord”, Revue critique, cit., 1958, pp. 1 ff.Google Scholar

22 See Elias, , Nature of African Customary Law, Manchester, 1956Google Scholar; Allot, , Essays in African Law, London, 1960Google Scholar; id.Judicial and Legal Systems in Africa, London, 1962; De Nova, , “Développement économique et évolution juridique”, Annales africaines, 1962Google Scholar; Anderson, , Changing Law in Developing Countries, London, 1963Google Scholar; David, , Les grands systèmes du droit contemporain, Paris, 1964, pp. 560 ff.Google Scholar More specifically on the conflict of personal laws, see Lampué, , “La diversité des status de droit privé dans les États africains”, Recueil Penant, 1961Google Scholar; Wengler, , “The General Principles of Private International Law”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1961, pp. 283 ff.Google Scholar; Francescakis, , “Problèmes de droit international privé de l'Afrique noire indépendante”, Recueil des Cours, cit., 1964, pp. 275 ff.Google Scholar

23 See Francescakis, op. cit., pp. 315 ff. This author points out that codification may impede the development of the legal systems of the new States.

24 See Francescakis, op. cit., pp. 316 ff.

25 See Francescakis, op. cit., p. 320.

26 See Lampué, , “La justice civile dans les Etats d'Afrique francophone et à Madagascar”, Revue juridique et politique de l'indépendence et de la coopération, 1966, pp. 155 ff.Google Scholar

27 As to the situation in particular States, see Rao, Rama, “Conflict of Laws in India”, Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, 1958, pp. 259 ff.Google Scholar; Anderson, , “Conflict of Laws in Northern Nigeria—A New Start”, (1959) I. & Comp. L.Q. 442CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Schiller, , “Conflict of Laws in East Africa”, Mélanges Kollewijn-Offer-haus, Leyden, 1962, pp. 430 ff.Google Scholar; Gouwgioksiong, , “Interpersonal Law in Indonesia”, Zeitschrift, cit., 1965, pp. 545 ff.Google Scholar

23 See Balogh, , “Etat comparé et conflit des lois en ce qui concerne le mariage civil, le mariage religieux et le mariage de facto”, Acta Academiae Universalis Jurisprudentiae Comparativae, Vol. 2, Para. 3, Paris, 1935 pp. 433 ff.Google Scholar; Arminjon, , Nolde, , Wolff, , Traité de droit comparé, I, Paris, 1950, para. 130.Google Scholar

29 See Falco, , Corso di diritto ecclesiastico, Padua, 1938 (4th ed.), Vol. 2, pp. 33 ff.Google Scholar

30 See Jacuzio, , Commento alla nuova legislazione in materia ecclesiastica, Turin, 1932, p. 187Google Scholar; Pacchioni, , Diritto civile, Turin, 1933, Vol. 1; pp. 182 ff.Google Scholar

31 See Jemolo, , Il matrimonio, Turin, 1937, p. 84Google Scholar; Giudice, Del, Le nuove basi del diritto ecclesiastico italiano, Milan, 1929, p. 59Google Scholar; Giudice, Del, Corso di diritto ecclesiastico, Milan, 1959 (9th ed.), pp. 108 ff.Google Scholar

32 See D'Avack, , La base giuridica del nuovo diritto matrimonale, Rome, 1933, pp. 46 ff.Google Scholar

33 See Falco, op. cit., pp. 46–47.

34 See Falco, op. cit., pp. 232 ff.

35 See Hauriou, , “La Théorie de l'institution”, Cahiers de la Cité moderne, Paris, 1925, pp. 22 ff.Google Scholar

36 See Romano, , L'ordinamento giuridico, Pisa, 1918 (2nd ed. Florence, 1945).Google Scholar

37 See Arminjon, “Le droit international privé en droit interne”, cit.; id., Précis, cit., esp. at pp. 141 ff.; id., “Les systèmes juridiques complexes”, cit.

38 See Meron, , “The Mejelle Tested by its Application”, p. 202, below.Google Scholar

39 See “Autonomy, ”, Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, New York, 1930, Vol. 2, pp. 332 ff.Google Scholar

40 See Arminjon, “Les Systèmes”, cit., p. 98; Udina, , “Notes sur les conflits de lois dans les colonies italiennes”, Revue de droit international et de législation comparée, 1935, pp. 429–430.Google Scholar

41 See Vitta, op. cit., p. 28, and the authorities there quoted. The rule prevailing in Mandatory times (qualification according to English law) was at first upheld by the Israeli Courts but, however, the Supreme Court of Israel, and then a Special Tribunal constituted under art. 55 of the Palestine Order-in-Council later expressed the opinion that the words “alimony” and “maintenance” are to be interpreted according to the law of the religious communities. This reversal was based on the practice that had prevailed in Ottoman times and also on the practical difficulties of distinguishing between alimony (under the exclusive jurisdiction of the religious courts) and maintenance (under the concurrent jurisdiction of such courts and of the civil courts). See Rosenbaum v. Rosenbaum (1949–50) 2 P.E. 5, and Rosenbaum v. Rosenbaum (1953) 7 P.D. 1037, as well as Chigier, , “The Rabbinical Courts in the State of Israel”, (1967) 2 I.L.R. 147 ff.Google Scholar But the Rabbinical Courts' Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law of 1953 has since reverted (sec. 9) to the practice followed during the Mandate.

42 See Arminjon, , Précis, cit., p. 187 noteGoogle Scholar; Vitta, op. cit., p. 29.

43 See Vitta, op. cit., p. 33 ff.

44 Streit v. Chief Rabbi (1964) (1) 18 P.D. 598, where it was held that the rules of international law are not binding upon the religious courts.

45 See Yadin, , “Reflections on a New Law of Succession”, (1966) 1 I.L.R. 132.Google Scholar

46 See Solus, , Traité sur la condition des indigènes en droit privé, Paris, 1927, p. 302 ff.Google Scholar

47 See Falco, op. cit., pp. 39 ff. and 211 ff.

48 See Del Guidice, Corso, cit. p. 531; Bertola, , Corso di diritto ecclesiastico, Turin, 1957, p. 394.Google Scholar