11-03-2011, 08:47 PM
I think that what the US Supreme Court will be considering, will be the extent to which a foreigner should be able to avail himself of the US Courts, where damages are notably high. The question of determining which is the proper forum applies to all areas of law, including divorce settlements, or, let us say, the law relating to the Incapacitated Adult. Suppose I live in Britain, and am British, yet I own property in California. A head injury causes me to be incapable of dealing with my own affairs, and the English Court makes an order enabling someone to do so for me. But what about the Californian property, which it is desired to sell? Or French? Because it is real property, the English order will not work; separate proceedings will have to be started in these other jurisdictions -- the French will want to preserve the inheritance laws, and the Californians, whatever they do, will keep it under the supervision of the competent local court. In the modern world, of course, the Conflict of Laws plays a considerable part: for the most part, civilised countries manage to to sort things out, and I imagine that, in reality, the SC is trying to refine this aspect.