The lex domicilii is the Latin term for "law of the domicile" in the Conflict of Laws. Conflict is the branch of public law regulating all lawsuits involving a "foreign" law element where a difference in result will occur depending on which laws are applied. Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Private international law comprises provisions of national law regarding contracts and lawsuits involving foreign laws or jurisdictions. ... Public law is the area of the law governing the relationship between individuals (citizens, companies) and the state. ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ...

Explanation

When a case comes before a court and all the main features of the case are local, the court will apply the lex fori, the prevailing municipal law, to decide the case. But if there are "foreign" elements to the case, the forum court may be obliged under the Conflict of Laws system to consider: A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... Lex fori is a private international law doctrine meaning the law of the court in which proceedings are being conducted. ... Aphorism Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Find more information on Law by searching one of Wikipedias sibling projects: Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School...

• whether the forum court has jurisdiction to hear the case (see the problem of forum shopping);
• it must then characterise the issues, i.e. allocate the factual basis of the case to its relevant legal classes; and
• then apply the choice of law rules to decide the lex causae, i.e. which law is to be applied to each class.

The lex domicilii is a common law choice of law rule applied to cases testing the status and capacity of the parties to the case. For example, suppose that a person domiciled in Malaysia decides to take a "round-the-world" trip. It would be inconvenient if this person's legal status and capacities changed every time he or she entered a new state, e.g. that he or she might be considered an infant or an adult, married or free to marry, bankrupt or creditworthy, etc., depending on the nature of the laws of the place where he or she happened to be. Assuming that there are no public policy issues raised under the relevant lex fori, the domiciliary law should apply to define all major issues and so produce an in rem outcome no matter where the case might be litigated. The civil law states use a test of either lex patriae (the law of nationality) or the law of habitual residence to determine status and capacity. In law, jurisdiction refers to the aspect of a any unique legal authority as being localized within boundaries. ... Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice of attempting to get a case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a decision favorable to a plaintiff. ... In Conflict of Laws, characterisation is the second stage in the procedure to resolve a lawsuit involving a foreign law element. ... Choice of law is a concept within the field of the conflict of laws, relating to relationships between different nations, and in the United States between individual states. ... The lex causae is the Latin term for law of the case in the Conflict of Laws. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Capacity and incapacity are legal terms that refer to the ability of persons to make certain binding dispositions of their rights, such as entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will. ... A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. ... In Conflict of Laws, domicile (termed domicil in the U.S.) is the basis of the choice of law rule operating in the characterisation framework to define a persons status, capacity and rights. ... For the purposes of Public International Law and Private International Law, a state is a defined group of people, living within defined territorial boundaries and subject, more or less, to an autonomous legal system exercising jurisdiction through properly constituted courts. ... In law, a person who is not yet a legal adult is known as a minor (known in some places as an infant or juvenile). ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ... Public policy or ordre public is the body of fundamental principles that underpin the operation of legal systems in each state. ... Sometimes a court may exercise jurisdiction over property located within the perimeter of its powers without regard to personal jurisdiction over the litigants; this is called jurisdiction in rem. ... Civil law is a legal system derived from Roman law and commonly used in Europe. ... Nationality is, in English usage, the legal relationship between a person and a country. ...

See also

• Lex loci celebrationis
• Lex loci contractus
• Lex loci delicti commissi
• Lex loci solutionis