A Pacific Medley – Conflicts, Codes and Comparisons

Abstract

Professor Erwin Deutsch visited New Zealand many times. In the course of those visits he gave lectures and did research on a wide range of topics, including not only his special interest areas of medical law and the accident compensation system of New Zealand but also on more general matters relating to the European Communities, comparative law, and private international law. The students in the private international law class that Professor Deutsch taught in Wellington had an experience somewhat different from that of those in other years. Notably, he gave an extensive introduction to the topic from a historical and conceptual point of view, in contrast to the almost totally contemporary practical consideration of the topic given in other years. The second distinctive aspect of the course was that the assessment, for the part of the programme taught by Professor Deutsch, was by oral examination. That was certainly new for students in an undergraduate law programme in Wellington! It is that link with private international law matters that led to this reflection on the subject area more generally and on the much under-researched topic of the conflict of laws in the South Pacific countries. In that context several things come to mind immediately. One is that most of the countries in the South Pacific area have a Common Law heritage; second, they are mostly very small, and third, except for the larger countries of Melanesia to the west, they are resource poor. These factors have led to a substantial reduction in the possible and actual volume of private international law disputes and also to the relative insignificance internationally of the case law because of the absence of the international commercial imperative. Nevertheless, there are some things worthy of comment: (1) the most extensive private international law judgment in the region is Samoan Public Trustee v Collins1 and it concerned German law; (2) two of the countries in the South Pacific have pieces of legislation in the conflict of laws area which are of interest in themselves; (3) the potential for a codification of private international law rules and the role of code-like texts such as Dicey and Morris The Conflict of Laws.