Private international law – Foreign tort - Choice of law - Appellant was injured in the People's Republic of China - Scope of the lex loci delicti - Where the lex loci delicti treats another connecting factor, such as nationality or domicile, as determining the applicable law - Whether Article 146 of the General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China was a relevant part of the lex loci delicti - Whether Article 146 of the General Principles of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China made the law of the parties' domicile the applicable law - Whether the doctrine of renvoi applies to international tort claims - Infinite regression of reference.
Evidence – Foreign law - Principles governing admission of evidence of foreign law - Where there is a deficiency of evidence - Whether there is a presumption that foreign law is the same as the law of the forum.
Words and phrases – "lex loci delicti", "choice of law", "renvoi", "single renvoi", "double renvoi", "infinite regression of reference".
Judgment date
Case number
P85/2004
Before
Gleeson CJ, McHugh, Gummow, Kirby, Hayne, Callinan, Heydon JJ
Catchwords