United States

Abstract

This chapter explores the role played by public policy in the private international law of the United States. It first discusses the meaning of the term "public policy" and explains how that concept operates in the context of choice-of-law and enforcement-of-judgments cases. It then highlights the role that public policy plays in traditional and modern approaches to choice of law and argues that recent anti-foreign-law legislation enacted by a number of U.S. states is best understood through the lens of public policy. It next offers a detailed discussion of how public policy informs U.S. private international law analysis in seven specific areas – marriage and divorce, lineage and adoption, custody orders, succession, contracts, non-contractual obligations, and corporate law. The chapter concludes by detailing the distinctive features of U.S. practice – as compared with other nations – when it comes to the interplay between public policy and private international law.