Legal Definitions - conflicts

Conflicts refer to differences between laws of different states or countries in a case where a transaction or occurrence central to the case has a connection to two or more jurisdictions. This is also known as conflict of laws.

For example, if a person from one state commits a crime in another state, there may be a conflict of laws as to which state's laws should apply to the case.

There are different types of conflicts of laws, such as:

• Conflict of personal laws: This refers to a difference of laws between a jurisdiction's general laws and the laws of a racial or religious group, such as a conflict between federal law and American Indian tribal law.
• False conflict of laws: This is a situation resembling but not embodying an actual conflict because the potentially applicable laws do not differ, because the laws' underlying policies have the same objective, or because one of the laws is not meant to apply to the case before the court.

The body of jurisprudence that undertakes to reconcile such differences or to decide what law is to govern in these situations is called the principles of choice of law or conflicts. This is also known as private international law or international private law in international contexts.