An Analysis In The Perspective Of International Private Law Of Mr. Liao V. Ms. Chen Due To Disputes Over A Will

In the perspective of China’s Civil Law, succession refers to the legal relationshipbetween the dead and his relatives or someone he designates as beneficiaries. It relatesnot only the property, also the kinship. A country’s Succession Law is not onlyinfluenced by the country’s social and economic system, it also relates to the country’shistorical tradition, religious beliefs and ethnic customs. Therefore, The legislationand the judicial practice varies from country to country all over the world. However,since people from different countries communicate more and more frequently, moreand more disputes involve foreign elements. Will, by which an individual used to givedirections regarding the disposition of his property when he dies, has priority tostatutory succession. But it is also more complicated than statutory succession. Peoplewho are in the dispute regarding a will always focus on its validity. When judging thiskind of cases with foreign factors, court should always first resolve the problem ofconflicts of different laws.Through analyzing the case of Mr. Liao V. Ms. Chen due to dispute over the willof Mr. Liao’s father, the thesis mainly talk about the conflict of law of wills betweenmainland China and Hong Kong, and the principles of applying proper law to rule thevalid form of the will and to confirm the will’s validity in the disputes of testamentarysuccession involving foreign elements. Based on all these analysis, the thesis at lastpoints out the improvement and deficiencies of Law of the People’s Republic of Chinaon Choice of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relationships, and propose someamendments suggestions to perfect the Law. The thesis includes four parts.In the first part, the thesis introduces the case and put forward the main disputesin the case, which is excerpted from the reports of the intermediate people’s court ofFoshan, Guangdong province. This case refers to mainland China and Hong Kong,both of which are in the same sovereign, whereas both belong to different legalsystem. Technically, this thesis should talk about the case following the principles ofInter-local Private Law of China, since mainland China and Hong Kong are twodifferent judicial regions in one country. However, since China has not yet enactedinter-regional conflict law, and the case involves only some ordinary civil disputeswithout relating to the question of state sovereignty and public order, this thesis then analyses the case following the principles of international private law. Law of thePeople’s Republic of China on Choice of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relationshipsactually is the main part of international private law of China so far.In the second part, the thesis talks about the conflict of the statute of wills ofmainland China and Hong Kong. In this part, the thesis firstly outlines the thelegislation overview on the statute of wills. Then, based on the disputes of the case,the thesis analyses the conflict of the statute of wills of mainland China and HongKong from four aspects, which are the classification of a will, the form of a will, thesubstantive validity of a will and the invalidity of a will.In the third part, the thesis discusses the principles of choosing proper lawApplicable to foreign wills of mainland China and Hong Kong. It firstly discuss thegeneral principles in the world. And then, based on the case, it discusses the principlesof mainland China and Hong Kong. Finally, it gives give a reasonable comment onthe trial of the case and puts forward its own opinion.In the last part, the thesis, based on all the analysis, points out the improvementand deficiencies of Law of the People’s Republic of China on Choice of Law forForeign-related Civil Relationships, and propose some amendments suggestions toperfect the Law.