Legal Definitions - renvoi

Renvoi refers to a complex situation that can arise in private international law, also known as conflict of laws. This occurs when a court needs to decide which country's legal system should apply to a particular case because the case has connections to multiple jurisdictions.

Specifically, renvoi happens when:

• A court in one country (let's call it Country A) determines that, according to its own conflict-of-laws rules, the law of another country (Country B) should govern a specific issue.
• However, when the court in Country A examines Country B's law, it finds that Country B's *own* conflict-of-laws rules state that the issue should actually be governed by:
  • The law of Country A (this is called "remission" or "sending back").
  • Or, the law of a third country (Country C) (this is called "transmission" or "sending on").

Essentially, renvoi creates a legal "loop" or a chain of referrals, where the initial reference to a foreign law leads to that foreign law referring the matter back to the original court's law or to the law of yet another jurisdiction.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Inheritance of Property (Remission)

  Imagine a citizen of France who owns a vacation home in Spain. Upon their death, a Spanish court is tasked with determining how the property should be inherited. The Spanish court's conflict-of-laws rules dictate that for the inheritance of immovable property, the law of the deceased's nationality should apply. Therefore, the Spanish court looks to French law.

  However, French conflict-of-laws rules, when applied to immovable property located abroad, state that the law of the country where the property is situated should govern. This means French law refers the matter *back* to Spanish law.

  This illustrates renvoi because the Spanish court was initially directed to French law, but French law then referred the case back to Spanish law. The Spanish court must then decide whether to accept this "sending back" and apply its own internal inheritance laws for the property.

• Example 2: Contract Dispute (Transmission)

  Consider a contract signed in Switzerland between a German company and an Italian company. The contract does not specify which country's law should govern any disputes. A dispute arises, and the case is brought before a German court.

  The German court's conflict-of-laws rules state that for international contracts without an explicit choice of law, the law of the place where the contract was concluded should generally apply. So, the German court looks to Swiss law.

  However, Swiss conflict-of-laws rules, for such contracts, might specify that the law of the country where the party providing the "characteristic performance" (e.g., the seller of goods or primary service provider) is based should apply. If the Italian company was the primary service provider, Swiss law would then refer the matter *on* to Italian law.

  This illustrates renvoi because the German court was referred to Swiss law, but Swiss law then referred the case on to Italian law. The German court must decide whether to accept this "sending on" and apply Italian contract law to resolve the dispute.