"Close Connection" Category in International Civil Procedure and in Conflict of Laws

The use of "close connection" in conflict of laws area and in international civil procedure preconditions the question whether it is possible to interpret it uniformly both as a basis for establishing the jurisdiction to resolve cross-border private law dispute, and as a basis for choosing the applicable law.

When studying close connection within the framework of conflict-of-laws regulation, the author of the paper, along with the concept of "close connection" examines the concepts of "connection with only one country" and "the closest connection". The paper also discusses the concept of Proper law which, as a rule, in the Russian doctrine is identified with the category of close connection.

Analysis of the close connection as the basis for establishing jurisdiction has led to the conclusion that it is necessary to apply a differentiated approach to determining the content of close connection within the framework of Conflict of Laws and international civil procedure. This assumption is based on the fact that when establishing jurisdiction to consider cross-border private law disputes on the ground of a close connection, a special task is solved to overcome the conflict of jurisdiction while observing the principle of equality between judicial procedures of different states, as well as the principle of international judicial cooperation. In addition, within the framework of the international civil procedure, the concept of “foreign element” preconditioning the manifestation of a close connection of the disputed legal relationship with the court of the state, can be endowed with additional content except the content attached to the foreign element within the framework of the conflict of laws, namely: obtaining evidence abroad; enforcement of a court order abroad, etc.

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