In case of conflicts of law, it is very important from the very beginning to understand and ascertain the rules that govern the situation of conflicts between laws, so you can be clear with which law you will be dealing with in a certain situation. This is the first question that each lawyer  around the world searching for it’s  answer specially the Egyptian lawyer.

The reason for this is that in this case you don’t waste any time and are well prepared for the situation. You would quite likely be out of luck if you would have been thinking that one law applies to your situation when it fact it was another.

Every law system has its own scope, and according to Egyptian law there are rules that control conflicts of law as to place, or according to the location. We will describe these rules in the following paragraphs.

A conflict of law generally arises when the legal status of someone in a legal relationship is disputed. In the Egyptian civil law, we can find that the article number 10 stipulates that the right to rule the nature of a legal relationship belongs to the Egyptian legal system:

“Egyptian law will rule to determine the nature of a legal relationship in order to ascertain the law applicable in the event of a conflict between various laws in any particular suit.”

 As the basis of the solution for any situation where a conflict of law has arisen depends on a correct description of the nature of a legal relationship, Egypt law can determine the law that applies to this situation if the right law can be found that describes the situation from beginning.

 The legislature determines the general provisions that are in force before any other rules in the following way:

General provisions

First rule:

               The principles of private international law apply in the case of a conflict of laws for which no provision is made in the Egypt law.

Second rule:

                  The provisions of the law only apply when no provisions to the contrary are included in a special law or in an International Convention in force in Egypt.

Third rule:

                  In the case of a person of unknown nationality or of a person of plural nationality the law to be applied will be decided by the Judge. Also Egyptian law shall apply, however, if a person is deemed in Egypt to be of an Egyptian nationality and is at the same time deemed by one or more foreign states to be a national of that or those states.

Fourth rule:

                 Principles of competence of courts and all questions of procedure are governed by the law of the country in which the action is brought, or in which the proceedings are taken.

Fifth rule:

                 In the cases where a foreign law is applicable only the internal provisions of such foreign law shall apply to the exclusion of provisions relating to private international law.

Sixth rule:

                 When, in accordance with this law, it appears that the law to be applied is the law of a state in which several legal systems exist, the law applicable shall be determined by the internal law of that state.

Seventh rule:

                   The provisions of a foreign law applicable by virtue of this law shall not be applied if these provisions are contrary to public policy or to morality in Egypt.

After that we can see that the legislature has classified every subject and determined its own rules to control the following:

• The status and the legal capacity.
• Provisions of marriage, divorce and inheritance.
• Contractual obligations.
• Non-contractual obligations.
• Possession, ownership and other real rights.

The status and the legal capacity

The principle:

The status and the legal capacity of persons are governed by the law of the country to which they belong by their nationality. (I.e., the country whose citizen a person is.).

The exception:

The principle doesn’t apply if:

• The transaction is of a pecuniary nature.
• The transaction is concluded and having effect in Egypt.
• One of the parties is a foreigner without legal capacity.
• If such lack of capacity is due to a reason that is not apparent and which cannot be easily detected by the other party, this reason has no effect on his legal capacity.
• Possession, ownership and other real rights.

The principle:

The legal status of foreign juristic persons such as companies, associations, foundations, or others, is subject to the law of the State in whose territory such juristic persons have established their actual principal seat of management (central office).

The exception:  If a juristic person carries on its principal activities in Egypt, Egyptian law will be the one in force.

Provisions of marriage, divorce and inheritance

The principle:

• The fundamental conditions relating to the validity of marriage are governed by the (national) law of each of the two spouses.
• The effects of marriage, including its effects upon the property of the spouses, are regulated by the law of the country to which the husband belongs at the time of conclusion of the marriage.
• Repudiation of marriage is governed by the law of the country to which the husband belongs at the time of repudiation, whereas divorce and separation are governed by the law of the country to which the husband belongs at the time of the commencement of the legal proceedings.
• Obligations as regards payment of alimony to relatives are governed by the (national) law of the person liable for such payment.

• The (national) law of a person who should be protected shall apply in respect of all fundamental matters relating to natural and legal guardianship, receivership, and other forms of protection of persons without legal capacity and of absent persons.

• Inheritances, wills and other dispositions taking effect after death are governed by the (national) law of the deceased, the testator or the person disposing of property at death.

The form of a will, however, is governed by the (national) law of testator at the time the will is made, or by the law of the country in which the will is made. The same principles apply to the form of other dispositions taking effect after death.

The exception:

However, in the case when one of the two spouses is an Egyptian at the time of the conclusion of the marriage, Egyptian law alone shall apply except as regards the legal capacity to marry.

Contractual obligations

Contractual Obligations are governed according to the following rules:

1- According to the parties’ agreement or the circumstances that indicate that another law should apply.

2- Then according to the law of the domicile when such domicile is common to the contracting parties. 3- Then, in the absence of a common domicile, according to the law of the place where the contract was concluded.

The exception: 

The contracts relating to immovable property, however, are governed by the law of the place in which the immovable is situated.

Non-contractual obligations

These are governed by the law of the State in whose territory the act that gave rise to the obligation took place.

The exception: 

However, if the obligation arises from a tort (a wrongful act or an infringement of a right), the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to an act which occurred abroad and which, although considered unlawful in accordance with the law of the country in which the act occurred, is considered lawful in Egypt.

Possession, ownership and other real rights

These are regulated, as regards immovable, by the law of the place in which the immovable is situated, and as regards movables, by the law of the place where the movable was situated at the time when the event, which resulted in the acquisition or loss of possession, ownership or other real rights, took place.

These are the rules that control the situation of a conflict of law, according to the Egyptian legal system. Every lawyer in Egypt follow these rules from the beginning when he started to deal with an international suit to save the time from beginning