Private international law

Private international law

If as sophisticated a judge as the Honourable John Doyle should admit that he approached multi-state legal problems 'with a sense of impending doom as [he] tackle[d] the complexities which arise in this area of law', then I really should have hesitated more at trying to present an understandable account of the private international law: see Nalpantidis v Stark (1995) 65 SASR 454 at 456. The area deserves its reputation for both complication and convolution, and neither can be avoided if the law is to be explained accurately. Still, I have aimed in this book to explain Australian private international law in a way that gives the method that should be used in applying its principles more prominence. The hope is that some acquaintance with the methods of private international law will help readers to negotiate its maze of principles, rules and policies with a little less frustration, and a little more success.