Lex situs

Lex situs

The term "lex situs" (Latin) refers to the law of the place in which property is situated for the purposes of the Conflict of laws. For example, property may subject to tax pursuant to the law of the place of the property or by virtue of the domicile of its owner. 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.

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:
*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 which law is to be applied to each class.The "lex situs" is a choice of law rule applied to identify the lex causae for cases involving title to, or the possession and use of property. In law, there are two types of property:
*Real property is land or any permanent feature or structure above or below the surface. Ownership of land is an aspect of the system of "real property" or "realty" in common law systems ("immovables" in civil law systems and the Conflict of Laws).
*All other property is considered "personal property" or "personalty" in common law systems ("movables" in civil law systems and the Conflict of Laws), and this property is either "tangible" or "intangible", i.e. it is either physical property that can be touched like a computer, or it is an enforceable right like a patent or other form of intellectual property.Properly speaking, the term "lex situs" is applied only to immovable property and "lex loci rei sitae" ought to be used when referring to the law of the "situs" of movable property but this distinction is less common today and is ignored for the purposes of the Conflict pages on the Wikipedia. Land has traditionally represented one of the most important cultural and economic forms of wealth in society. Because of this historical significance, it is vital that any judgment affecting title to or the use of the land should be enforceable with the minimum of difficulty. Hence, compliance with the "lex situs" should produce a judgment in rem. The choice of law rules are as follows:
*immovables, by definition, do not move and so the identification of the "lex situs" will not present a problem in the majority of cases;
*because movables may be portable, the "lex situs" is the law of the state in which the personalty is resident at the time the case is heard.

See also

*Lex loci celebrationis
*Lex loci contractus
*Lex loci delicti commissi
*Lex loci solutionis


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lex situs — /leks saytas/ Modern law Latin for the law of the place where property is situated. The general rule is that lands and other immovables are governed by the lex situs; i.e., by the law of the country in which they are situated …   Black's law dictionary

  • lex situs — /leks saytas/ Modern law Latin for the law of the place where property is situated. The general rule is that lands and other immovables are governed by the lex situs; i.e., by the law of the country in which they are situated …   Black's law dictionary

  • lex situs — noun see lex loci rei sitae …   Useful english dictionary

  • lex situs — law that is in effect in a specific geographical location, local law …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Situs (law) — In law, the situs (pronounced sī təs ) (Latin for position or site) of property is where the property is treated as being located for legal purposes. This may be important when determining which laws apply to the property, since the situs of an… …   Wikipedia

  • Lex loci rei sitae — The lex loci rei sitae (Latin: law of the place where the property is situated) is a doctrine which states that the law governing the transfer of title to property is dependent upon, and varies with, the location of the property for the purposes… …   Wikipedia

  • Lex causae — In the conflict of laws, lex causae (Latin: lex+causa, cause [for the] law ) is the law or laws chosen by the forum court from among the relevant legal systems to arrive at its judgement of an international or interjurisdictional case.The term… …   Wikipedia

  • Lex loci — In Conflict of Laws, the term lex loci (Latin for the law of the place )Eugene Ehrich, Amo, Amas, Amat and More , p. 170, ISBN 0 06 272017 1.] is a shorthand version of the choice of law rules that determine the lex causae .The relevant rules are …   Wikipedia

  • Lex loci contractus — The lex loci contractus is the Latin term for law of the place where the contract is made in the Conflict of Laws. Starr Printing Co. v. Air Jamaica, 45 F.Supp.2d. 625 (1999 U.S. Dist.). Conflict is the branch of public law regulating all… …   Wikipedia

  • Lex loci solutionis — The lex loci solutionis is the Latin term for law of the place where relevant performance occurs 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… …   Wikipedia

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