Public order in international private law — rule or exception?

Abstract

 The article points out that the dominant role of the interests of public order in private international law in the 17th century was highlighted by Dutch collisionists. It has been established that the general rule based on the damage / consequences to interests conflicting in the legal relationship of public order (Ulrik Huber’s axiom) follows from the logic of legal regulation. It is concluded that the main feature of the method of resolving conflicts in private international law is a consequential approach — assessing the consequences for  the interests of public order affected by the cross-border legal relationship. In this regard, it is noted that positive and negative clauses on public order are not an exception, but together with a conflict of laws rule referring to foreign law, a general rule that determines the essence of the entire conflict regulation mechanism. The study highlights two main approaches to consolidating the concept of public order in conflict regulation — European and North American. It is concluded that the creation by the legislator based on the interests of public order of new ones, changing the existing norms, taking into account by the judge the damage / consequences of the application of conflict of laws for  public interests that are conflicting in the legal relationship of law and order, determine the leading place of the concept of public order in the general rule for determining the applicable law.