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 the majority of cases, countries only have one legal system and no problem will arise. In the case of countries electing to assume federated status, the extent to which each separated regional unit will constitute a state will be determined by whether that unit has a sufficiently significant volume of laws distinguishable from those applied in other units. Hence, in the territorially separated states constituting the United States, the laws are sufficiently distinctive to elevate them to states for this purpose. International law deals with the relationships between states, or between persons or entities in different states. ... International private law, private international law or conflict of laws is the branch of public law which regulates lawsuits involving foreign laws or jurisdictions. ... In law, jurisdiction refers to the aspect of a any unique legal authority as being localized within boundaries. ... 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. ... A country, a land, is a geographical area that connotes an independent political entity, with its own government, administration, laws, often a constitution, police, military, tax rules, and population, who are one anothers countrymen. ...

Discussion

For the purposes of disciplines such as geography, politics, economics and sociology, it is appropriate to consider the world as divided into countries and, because it is of little significance in those disciplines, simply to add that some of these countries may be federated or otherwise divided into regions or provinces. The focus is on the broad cultural patterns of political allegiance that arise by virtue of citizenship and nationality, e.g. the so-called social contract is that the state, in its nontechnical sense, will defend the interests of its citizens in return for the loyalty of its citizens. The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Economics (from the Greek οίκος [oikos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules, hence household management) is the social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services in the context of the competing alternative allocations of goods and courses of action. ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... A region can be any area that has some unifying feature. ... This article is about political regions. ... The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... Allegiance is the duty which some think a subject or a citizen owes to the state or to the sovereign of the state to which some think he belongs. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now usually a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ... For political policies of the same name see Bob Raes Social Contract (Ontario) and Harold Wilsons Social Contract (Britain) Social contract is a phrase used in philosophy, political science, and sociology to denote a real or hypothetical agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the...

But it is highly relevant to consider the significance of separate legal systems, particularly if the application of those systems would produce different results on the same set of facts. For example, in some parts of the world, one person may acquire multiple spouses or a spouse of the same biological sex. If such a marriage is validly created in one state, should it cease to be valid if the family travel to another state on holiday? Similarly, if a company is created with certain capacities under one law, should its capacities change if it seeks to trade in another law area? Social mobility is now the norm and trade across different markets is a vital part of the world's economic system. These and many other questions can only be answered by recognising the potential conflicts between state laws and producing formalised systems to reconcile them. The issue is where these systems should be located.

Public International Law exists to provide a framework within which the relationship between sovereign nation states can be regulated. It provides a system of contract called treaties and offers systems to resolve disputes over territorial boundaries, access to the high seas, etc. But, it is a supranational system and, as such, it has no direct effect on the municipal laws unless each nation waives its sovereignty. Hence, although the Hague Conference on Private International Law makes recommendations, it is for each state to develop its own laws to address and resolve actual conflicts of outcome (although, in the U.S., it is acknowledged that the American Law Institute has devised federal guidelines covering some aspects of the subject). These municipal law systems fall into three sections: Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself. ... A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. ... The Hague Conference on Private International Law is the preeminent organisation in the area of private international law. ... The American Law Institute (ALI) was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...

1. jurisdiction: forum shopping can be a problem and it is necessary for litigants to demonstrate a real connection between their dispute and the court invited to adjudicate;
2. choice of law: where the result will be different depending on which law is applied, clear and consistent rules must be applied to decide which competing law(s) should be applied;
3. the chosen law(s) should be applied: this is not straightforward because the court in one state is being asked to give extraterritorial effect to another state's laws, thereby making its own laws inapplicable (and, arguably, breaching sovereignty).

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. ...

See also

domicile nationality state In private international law, domicile (formerly domicil) is a fundamental concept that defines a persons status, capacity and rights. ... Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ...