CONFLICT OF LAWS: RECENT DEVELOPMENT CONCERNING MARRIAGE

Authors

Francis Deak, New York City

Abstract

Anglo-American writers on the conflict of laws and Continental writers on private international law emphasize, with equal strength, the importance of the rules regulating marriage. Marriage is the most important of the social institutions; it is, in fact, the very foundation of the present social order. The legal system of civilized states, which is called upon to maintain this social order, contains an elaborate body of rules, protecting the institution of marriage. It is noteworthy, indeed, that mature legal systems secure best interests involved in domestic relations, besides interests of substance such as property and contract. Each legal system developed a set of principles, characteristic to each country and laws developed individually also. On the other hand, marriage is just as fundamental a social institution in common-law countries as it is in civil-law countries. A way had to be found to reconcile the conflicting doctrines protecting marriage. This is the explanation for the doctrine of conflict of laws concerning marriage, a problem which has become a major issue in the private international law of both common-law and civil-law systems.

Recommended Citation

Francis Deak, CONFLICT OF LAWS: RECENT DEVELOPMENT CONCERNING MARRIAGE, 27 Mich. L. Rev. 389 (1929).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol27/iss4/3