The nature of private international law

• Литвинова Светлана Федоровна

  Svetlana F. Litvinova. Vladivostok State University. Vladivostok. Russia

Abstract. Based on a reliable definition of the nature of private international law (IPL), a number of discussions can be resolved concerning the theory of this branch: determining the value, form, subject, method of legal regulation, its content, system affiliation, etc. This will make it possible to improve Russian legislation and law enforcement practice. This article proves that the nature of private international law is mixed: public-private (and not private, as claimed by the vast majority of Russian authors). This characteristic of private international law is new to Russian doctrine. The subject of the research is the works of reputable Russian authors, written mainly in the post-Soviet period, as
well as Russian legislation. The conclusion about the mixed nature of private international law is based on the use of general scientific and special legal research methods. A systematic approach was chosen as the main research methodology. The nature of the norms of private international law is determined by the life circumstances that objectively influenced its emergence, and their interaction as elements of a unified system. The conclusion about the public-private nature of private international law is based on the characterization of the norms that make up its system: substantive and conflict-of-laws. This is also an innovation in Russian doctrine. There is an opinion that these include the sub-
stantive norms governing relations with foreigners or defining their legal regime in the territory of the Russian Federation, which are fixed in the sources of public branches of law, including procedural law. The author of this article does not agree with this approach and provides his own evidence for his position, choosing as a criterion the norms of private international law the possibility of their use to resolve legal conflicts. Defining the private-law nature of unified substantive norms and, based on his own understanding of the term "nature", the public-law nature of conflict-of-laws norms, the author draws a conclusion about the mixed nature of private international law.
Keywords: the IPL system, the material norms of the IPL, the conflict-of-laws norms of the IPL, the nature of the legal phenomenon, the public-private nature of the IPL, the public nature of the conflict of laws, overcoming conflicts of law, sources of the IPL, self-limitation of sovereignty.