Directly Applicable Law "theory

The theory of "Directly Applicable Law" (hereinafter as DAL)is a new theoretical theme in private international law studies since the 1950s. It refers to a direct application of certain lex fori mandatory legal provision or norm, due to its particular nature and regardless of the rule of conflicts, to specific cases in private international law practices. The emergence and development of the theory is closely related to the strong intervention and controls of western countries exerted on their national economies in accordance with Keynesism after World War II and meanwhile reflects the concerns over national interests with respect to international private law under the setting of economic globalization. Up till now, some international treaties and national legislations have contained specific provisions for the application of particualr laws to be applied directly.Research methods of the thesis employed in the thesis include the historical approach, comparative approach and juris hermeneutics approach. The thesis falls into three chapters. Chapter One outlines the basics of DAL, including its concept, historical evolvement and its nature of being both public law and private law, both conflict rules and substantive rules, as has been hinted by 19th century scholarships. Particularly, this Chapter explores the reason for the emergence of the theory and attributes it to the interaction and entangling between economic factors and a shift in the value of laws. Chapter Two develops the relationship between DAL and choice of laws with the proposition that the approaches to choice of laws include unilateralism approach, multilateralism approach and substantive law approach. Under this category, DAL belongs to the unilateralism approach;whereas in a new form, which helps us reconsider the unilateralism approach itself. Chapter Three studies the application of DAL with a treatise on DAL of lex fori, DAL in lex causae and DAL in third countries and a retrospect to the historical development of reservation of public order, which is originally assuemd the sole negative role of denying the application of foreign laws and whose positive role of supporting the application of domestic law isattributed to the hidden existence of DAL in it. Based on that, the Chapter develops the relationship between DAL and the reservation of public order.