The process of regulating relations in the civil law sphere with a foreign element is fraught with a rather complicated problem, which consists in choosing the law used. The question of how relations will be regulated, and the provisions of the legislation of which country will be used, is decided by the court or other law enforcement body. Relations in these cases are regulated by a special system.
Conflict rules in private international law are considered the most complex. Moreover, these provisions form the basis of this system in any state. The presence of a foreign element in a relationship provokes a phenomenon called a “conflict of law”.
The term "collisio" of Latin origin means "collision". When talking about legislative conflicts, they suggest the need to choose between the laws of different countries. This phenomenon can be triggered by two reasons. A conflict of law can be directly caused by the very fact of the presence of a foreign element in relations within the framework of private law, as well as by the different content of legal norms in the legislation of different states with which this relationship is associated.
"The problem of the clash of laws" refers to the problem of choosing those provisions that should be applied in existing conditions. The conflict problem is characteristic mainly of private international law. Moreover, its elimination is of paramount importance in this industry. In other legal sectors, the “conflict of laws problem” is of secondary importance.
Conflict norms determine which provisions of the law should be applied to relations that are formed in the framework of international communication. At the same time, the situation is complicated by the fact that the rule of law of several states claims to regulate these relations. Conflict norms make it possible to subordinate interaction with a foreign element to the legislation of one particular country. In this regard, in the legal literature they are called "conflicting", "reference" provisions.
Conflict norms usually send the enforcement body to the provisions in the relevant legislative system. Moreover, they themselves (norms) do not solve the regulated attitude in essence. Thus, it becomes clear that the conflict of laws rules, being "reference provisions", can be applied only in combination with any legislation that will solve the question.
However, despite the fact that these provisions only determine the laws of which particular country will be applied, their significance should not be underestimated. Along with the substantive norms to which conflict provisions are referred, they also express a certain rule according to which civil relations are implemented.
Such a system of regulation of relations with the participation of a foreign element includes two forms.
Settlement of civil interaction can be carried out by the national legal method. This technique involves the publication of national "reference provisions", which each state develops within its own legislation.
The second form - international legal - provides for the unification of conflict of laws norms that are developed jointly by countries in the framework of international agreements.
In general, the system is applicable in the case when direct regulation of relations is not possible and the internal "reference provisions" of the countries concerned have significant differences.
The conclusion of an international conflict agreement helps to maximize the international compliance of the court decision. In other words, with the help of this regulatory system, the court decision will be identical for all parties, regardless of which state it is made in.