§ 1 T H E P A R T I C U L A R N A T U R E O F T H E C H O I C E O F L A W C O N N E C T I O N : U N I T Y - S C I S S I O N
A The unity principle
A d d e d to the group of Member Countries accepting the unity of the law applicable to the estate are: A U S T R I A , C H i L E , P O L A N D , T U R K E Y (cxcept f o r Immovables located in T u r k e y ) . The new Yugoslavian law has adopted unity with no requirement of reciprocity. T o the countries which appear to be part of this group may be added:
S U R I N A M E .
The Argentine and Venezuelan drafts are also based on the unity of the law applicable to the estate. The Swiss draft would give up the exception which is accepted by the law currently in force, f o r immovables in Switzer-land belonging to Swiss nationals.
T H E B E N E L U X T R E A T Y : O U 24 June 1975 the three coun-tries concerned announced to the Inter-parliamentary Council f o r B é n é l u x that p r o c é d u r e s f o r ratification had been stopped.
To be added to the multilatéral Conventions of this group are: T H E C O D E O F P R I V A T E I N T E R N A T I O N A L L A W
of 20 February 1928 (Havana) ( B U S T A M A N T E C O D E ) (rat-ified by the following countries: Bolivia; Brazil; Chile;
Costa Rica; Cuba; the Dominican Republic; Ecuador;
Guatemala; H a i t i ; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama;
Peru; E l Salvador; Venezuela): article 144 of the Code.
B The scission principle
To be added to the group of countries which have adopt-ed scission are (common law Systems): A U S T R A L I A , C Y P R U S. Other Systems: U R U G U A Y , A R G E N T I N A seems also to be a part of this group.
To be deleted: A U S T R I A , T U R K E Y .
The Q u é b e c draft accepts scission.
* A n n e x e d licrcio are brief accounls of the provisions on the law of succession contained in récent codifications and drafts dealinii with the private international law of the following countries Laws: A u s t r i a . Poland. Spain, T u r k e y , Y u g o -slavia: Drafts submihed lo Harliameiir. F é d é r a l R e p u b l i c of G e r n i a n y . Swi'tzerland:
Drafts nol yel stihniitted to Farlîainent: A r g e n t i n a , C a n a d a ( O u e b e c ) , V e n e z u e l a .
Update of the Commentary
T H E T R E A T Y O F 12 F E B R U A R Y 1889 D E A L 1 N G W I T H I N T E R -N A T I O -N A L C I V I L L A W ( M O -N T E V I D E O ) (ratified by Bolivia and Peru): article 45; T H E T R E A T Y O N P R I V A T E I N T E R -N A T I O -N A L L A W O F 19 M A R C H 1940 ( M O N T E V I D E O ) (rati-fied by Argentina, Paraguay and U r u g u a y ) : article 45.
C O p é r a t i o n of t h è s e principles a The unity S y s t e m
A tendency seems to be emerging towards a reinforce-ment of the unity principle; since 1969 Austria and Tur-key have left the ranks of the countries accepting scis-sion i n order to j o i n the group of countries adopting the principle of unity (Turkey however w i t h an exception for immovables located in T u r k e y ) . The Argentine and Venezuelan drafts propose the same solution. The unity principle has been confirmed i n particular i n a new arti-cle 9, paragraph 8 of the Preliminary Title to the Spanish Civil Code; the Swiss d r a f t , abandoning the exception for immovables in Switzerland belonging to Swiss natio-nals, and the Yugoslavian law, abandoning the require-ment of reciprocity, also j o i n in reinforcing this princi-ple. The foregoing d é t e r m i n a t i o n concurs with that jased on more gênerai data of M r F. Boulanger i n Les successions internationales. Problèmes contempo-rains (1981), p. 45, according to w h o m 'a larger num-ber of States than in the past are sympathetic to a unitary System for dealing with succession', (translation by the Permanent Bureau)
This being so, it is striking that the question of the pos-sible sanction supporting the unity principle seems to remain without a clear reply - positive or négative - i n most of the new S y s t e m s . The German law, it is true, retains the négative response of article 28 E G B G B, but the response is not without ambiguity and it must be expected that this provision w i l l continue to raise dif-ficult questions in the f u t u r e . The Swiss draft searches for a solution through its handling of the international jurisdiction of the courts. For the right of heirs who are disadvantaged by the application of the foreign law to recoup their losses f r o m local propierties, cf. infra, § 3, B Influence of the heirs' nationalities or domiciles.
b The scission System
3 H o w are the estate's liabilities handled? I n its judg-ment of 19 July 1976 {Revue critique de droit interna-tional privé, 1978, p. 338, note by B . A n c e l ) , the French Court of Cassation confirmed the dominant opinion among the French légal writers according to which the law governing the succession governs the scope of the heirs' liability f o r the decedents' debts, as well as the rights of creditors to sue the heirs. This judgment, re-jecting the application of the law of the place where the movables are located i n order to d é t e r m i n e the rights of the creditors to sue, gives comfort to the opinion accord-ing to which, in case there is more than one law appli-cable to the succession, the liability of the heirs should not be apportioned to each segment of property i n the proportion that such segment bears to the totahty of the assets (c/. Batiffol/Lagarde, 7th é d i t i o n . N o 659). I t is important to point out, however, that in the particular case the succession was composed only of movables; the Court of Cassation has not yet decided a case i n which immovables were also involved. I n such a case, the civil district court of Papeete (7 March 1975), although it stated that the calculations of indefeasible shares were distinct f o r each segment of property, declared that it was clearly i n favour of a single law to govern the es-tate's liabilities ( s e e the approving notes by B . A n c e l in the Revue critique de droit international privé, 1976, p. 674 and b y G . D r o z in the Journal des Notaires, 1976, p. 1763).
Update of the Commentary 107
Dans les pays de common law, le r è g l e m e n t du passif fait partie des devoirs de Vadministrator ou executor, agissant en g é n é r a l sous c o n t r ô l e des tribunaux. Aussi, les questions de savoir si une dette est «admissible» et dans quel ordre les dettes doivent ê t r e p a y é e s sont-elles c o n s i d é r é e s comme des questions de p r o c é d u r e et c'est donc la lex fori qui les régit (et ce n'est q u ' a p r è s que le passif ait été réglé que la loi successorale intervient pour d é t e r m i n e r la distribution de l'actif). {Cf. Dicey & M o r -ris, 10e é d . , 1980, Rule 91.) L'autonomie territoriale des administrations locales qui peut en résulter dans une succession.à c a r a c t è r e international est c o n t r e b a l a n c é e par certains é l é m e n t s introduisant l'unité du r è g l e m e n t du passif, tel le s y s t è m e h i é r a r c h i q u e instaurant un ad-ministrateur principal, à qui les adad-ministrateurs auxiliai-res locaux doivent remettre le surplus é v e n t u e l de la liquidation locale, et l'égalité des créanciers é t r a n g e r s et locaux. Cf. à l'égard de la paritas creditorwn le Restate-inent of Conflict of Laws 2nd 1971, § 342 et suiv. dont le § 344 dispose que:
«Tous les créanciers d'un défunt ayant prouvé leurs créances devant un tribunal compétent saisi d'une procé-dure d'administration de la succession du défunt, ont droit à partager au pro rata tout paiement de créances par /'executor ou administrator local des biens, sans égard à la source des biens, ou de la résidence, du siège des affaires, du domicile ou de la nationalité des créan-ciers, sous réserve des actions justifiées contre ou des pri-vilèges portant sur des fonds spécifiques ou des rangs préférentiels attribués aux créanciers d'une catégorie
spé-ciale.» (traduction du Bureau Permanent.)
2 A u t r e l o i
Les observations concernant l'Autriche gardent leur i n -t é r ê -t nonobs-tan-t le fai-t que l ' A u -t r i c h e a a d o p -t é le prin-cipe de l'unité. I l est r a p p e l é que le projet suisse abroge l'article 28 L . R . D . C .
b L o i applicable à la succession mobilière
3 Soumission à la lex fori. A u lieu de l'exemple de l'Autriche, devenue un pays unitariste, on peut citer celui de l'état a m é r i c a i n du Mississippi. Selon l'article premier, alinéa premier du Titre 91 du Mississippi Code de 1972, e n t r é en vigueur le premier novembre 1973,
«tous les biens mobiliers situés au Mississippi sont dévo-lus et transmis selon les lois de cet état en matière de dévolution et transmission de tels biens, sans égard aux droits matrimoniaux qui ont pu naître dans d'autres états, ou sans tenir compte du fait que le domicile du défunt ait été situé dans un autre état ou que les héritiers ou autres ayants droit à la succession se trouvaient ou non dans l'état. La veuve du défunt participe à la succession conformément aux lois du Mississippi» (traduction du B u -reau Permanent). L e Mississippi est d'ailleurs le seul état des Etats-Unis à avoir admis ce principe, les autres états appHquant le droit du domicile aux meubles et le droit du lieu des immeubles pour les successions immo-bilières.
C Questions g é n é r a l e s concernant les facteurs de rat-tachement
a Succession soumise à la loi nationale du d é f u n t
§ 2 C I R C O N S T A N C E S D E R A T T A C H E M E N T
A Pays qui suivent le principe de l'unité
a Succession soumise à la loi nationale du d é f u n t
Si aux Pays-Bas l'application de la loi nationale reste la règle principale, la jurisprudence a admis certaines ex-ceptions, notamment en l'absence d'un lien réel entre le d é f u n t et le pays de sa nationalité et ceci non seulement dans les cas de p l u r i n a t i o n a l i t é , mais é g a l e m e n t lorsqu'il s'agit d'une personne ayant une seule nationalité (Recht-bank Middelburg, 12 juin 1974, Nederlandse Jurispru-dentie (NJ), 1977, N o 326, note J . C . Schultsz) et afin d'établir une coordination entre systèmes de conflits (par exemple Rechtbank Rotterdam, 6 février 1967, NJ 1967, N o 480; cf. W . Ebke, «Die A n k n u p f u n g der Rechtsnachfolge von Todes wegen nach niederlandi-schem Kollisionsrecht», i n : Rabels Zeitschrift (1984), p. 319 et suiv.); {cf. é g a l e m e n t l'article 11, alinéas 2 et 3 du T r a i t é B é n é l u x et cf. l'article 2 de la Convention de L a Haye du 15 j u i n 1955 pour régler les conflits entre la loi nationale et la loi du domicile).
b Succession soumise à la loi du domicile du d é f u n t
A ajouter: Chili (art. 955 du Code cwi\); Argentine (pro-jet); Venezuela ( p r o j e t ) .
B Pays qui suivent le principe de la scission a L o i appHcable aux successions immobilières 1 L o i du lieu de la situation de l'immeuble
Canada {Québec): le système décrit est c o n f i r m é par le projet, article 44. I l est r a p p e l é que la Turquie a mainte-nant a d o p t é le système de l'unité.
G é n é r a l e m e n t c'est la l o i nationale du d é f u n t au mo-ment de son décès qui régit la succession. Cependant, les lois espagnole et polonaise p r é v o i e n t que pour les testaments et les pactes successoraux la nationalité au moment de la r é d a c t i o n de l'acte est d é t e r m i n a n t e (la loi espagnole fait une exception pour la réserve qui est toujours calculée par r é f é r e n c e à la loi nationale au mo-ment de la mort du de cujus). L a loi autrichienne favorise la validité matérielle des actes de d e r n i è r e volonté en les soumettant alternativement au statut personnel au moment de la r é d a c t i o n et au moment du décès.
1 Double nationalité. L a tendance dominante selon la-quelle si la nationalité du f o r est c o n c e r n é e , seule celle-ci doit ê t r e prise en c o n s i d é r a t i o n , est c o n f i r m é e par la loi autrichienne (article 9, alinéa premier); espagnole (article 9, alinéa 9); polonaise (article 2 ) ; turque (article 4); yougoslave (article 11); projet de la République fédé-rale d'Allemagne (article 5).
Pour les é t r a n g e r s de double n a t i o n a l i t é , on applique g é n é r a l e m e n t la loi de la nationalité avec laquelle les liens sont les plus étroits {Autriche, Pologne, Turquie);
parfois i l est précisé que si le d é f u n t avait la nationalité du pays o i i i l se trouvait au moment du d é c è s , c'est cette loi q u ' i l faut appliquer {Espagne, avec une précision pour le cas o i i le d é f u n t n'avait pas de résidence habi-tuelle: on applique alors la loi de la d e r n i è r e nationalité acquise; Yougoslavie).
2 Apatrides. L a nouvelle loi yougoslave a simplifié la règle pour les apatrides: c'est maintenant le droit du domicile qui est a p p l i q u é , et à d é f a u t le droit de la r é -sidence (et si celle-ci n'est pas d é t e r m i n a b l e , la loi you-goslave).
R é f u g i é s . U n e disposition spéciale est i n c o r p o r é e dans la loi autrichienne (article 9, alinéa 3) qui définit le con-cept de r é f u g i é par r é f é r e n c e aux conventions
interna-I n the common law countries the settlement of the es-tate's debts is a part of the duties of the administrator or the executor who, in most cases acts under the control of the courts. Thus the issues of whether a debt is 'allow-able' and in what order debts are to be paid are consid-ered to be questions of p r o c é d u r e , which are therefore governed by the lex fori (and it is only after the debts have been paid that the law governing the estate inter-venes i n order to d é t e r m i n e the distribution of the as-sets). {Cf. Dicey & Morris, lOth édition, 1980, Rule 91.) The territorial autonomy of local administrations which may resuit, in an estate of an international charac-ter, is.counter-balanced by certain é l é m e n t s introducing the u n i t y of the settlement of debts, such as the hierar-chical S y s t e m installing a principal administrator to w h o m the local ancillary administrators must remit any surplus resulting f r o m the local liquidation, and the equality of foreign and local creditors. Cf. in regard to the equality of creditors the Restatement of Conflict of Laws 2nd 1971, § 342 et seq. the text of § 344 providing that:
'AU creditors of a décèdent who have proved iheir daims in a compétent court in which there are administration proceedings of the estate of the décèdent are entitled to share pro rata in any application ofthe assets ofthe local executor or administrator to the payment of daims irre-spective of the source of such assets or of the résidence, place of business, domicile or citizenship ofthe creditors, subject to valid clainis against or liens on spécifie funds and to valid préférences given to creditors of a particular class. '
§ 2 T H E C O N N E C T I N G F A C T O R
A Countries w h i c h f o l l o w the unity principle a Inheritance governed by the national law of the de-ceased
A l t h o u g h in the Netherlands the application of the na-tional law remains the principal r u l e , the c a s e law has admitted certain exceptions, in particular in the absence of a r e a l connection between the d é c è d e n t and the c o u n -t r y of his n a t i o n a l i t y , this not only in c a s e s of multiple nationality but a l s o w h e n the person involved had only one nationality {Rechtbank of Middelburg, 12 June 1974, Nederlandse Jurisprudentie, 1917, N o 326, n o t e by J. C. Schultsz) and in o r d e r to establish co-ordination between conflicts S y s t e m s (for example the décision of the Rechtbank of Rotterdam, 6 February 1967, NJ, 1967, N o 480; cf. W . Ebke, 'Die A n k n ù p f u n g der Rechts-nachfolge von Todes w e g e n n a c h niederlandischem Kollisionsrecht', in: Rabels Zeitschrift (1984), p. 319 et seq.); {cf. a l s o article 11, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the B é n é l u x Treaty and cf. article 2 of the Hague
Conven-t i o n o f 15 June 1955 to regulate conflicts between the
laws of nationality and domicile).
b Inheritance governed by the law of domicile of the deceased
T o bé added: Chile (art. 955 of Civil Code); Argentina (draft); Venezuela (draft).
B Countries w h i c h f o l l o w the scission principle a The law applicable to the immovable e s t a t e
1 The applicable law is the law of the s i t u s of the i m -movable property
Canada {Québec): t h e S y s t e m d e s c r i b e d is c o n f i r m e d by
t h e d r a f t a r t i c l e 44. It should be recalled t h a t Turkey has now adopted t h e unity System.
2 A n o t h e r law governs
The observations concerning Austria continue to be of interest, despite the fact that Austria has adopted the unity principle. I t should be recalled that the 5iv/55 draft abrogates article 28 of the L . R . D . C .
b The law applicable to the movable estate
3 Application of the lex fori. I n place of the example of Austria, which has become a unity country, may be mentioned that of the American state of Mississippi.
Undei- article 1, first paragraph, of Title 91 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, which entered into force 1 November 1973, 'AU personal property situated iti this State shall descend and be distributed according to the laws of this State regulating the desceiit and distribution of such property, regardless of ail marital rights which may have accrued in other states, and notwithstanding the domicile of the deceased may have béen in another State, and whether the heirs orpersons entitled to distribu-tion be in this state or not. The widow of such deceased person shaU take her share in the personal estate accord-ing to the laws of this state\ Mississippi is moreover the sole state of the United States which has adopted this principle, the bther states applying the law of the domicile to movables and the law of the place where immovables are located to the succession to such i m -movables.
C General questions concerning the Connecting factor a Inheritance governed by the national law of the de-ceased
Generally it is the decedent's national law at the time of his death which governs the succession. However, the Polish and Spanish laws provide that, for wills and contracts concerning succession, the nationality at the time when the instrument is executed is determinative (the Spanish law makes an exception f o r indefeasible shares, which are always calculated with r é f é r e n c e to the national law at the time of the decedent's death).
The Austrian law favours the substantive validity of tes-tamentary dispositions, referring them alternatively to the laws governing personal status at the time when the instrument is executed and at the time of death.
1 Dual nationality. The dominant tendency according to which, where the forum's nationality is involved, only that nationality should be taken into c o n s i d é r a t i o n , is confirmed by the Austrian law (article 9, first para-graph); Polish law (article 2); Spanish law (article 9, paragraph 9); Turkish law (article 4); Yugoslavian law (article 11); draft of the Fédéral Republic of Germany (article 5).
For foreigners with dual nationality, generally the law of the nationality with which the d é c è d e n t had the closest connection is applied {Austria, Poland, Tur-key); sometimes it is provided that, if the d é c è d e n t had the nationality of the country where he was at the time of his death, this law should be applied {Spain, with a spécial provision for the case where the d é c è d e n t had no habituai r é s i d e n c e , in which case the law of the last nationality acquired would be applied; Yugoslavia).
2 Stateless persons. The new Yugoslavian law has simplified the rule f o r stateless persons; it is now the law of the domicile which is to be applied, and if there is no domicile, the law of the résidence (and if this is not determinable, Yugoslavian law).
Refugees. A spécial provision has been incorporated into the Austrian law (article 9, paragraph 3) which de-fines the concept of refugee by r é f é r e n c e to the
interna-Update of the Commentary Update of the Commentary 109
tionales auxquelles l'Autriche est partie et dans le projet suisse (article 22, alinéa 3, définition b a s é e sur la l o i suisse de 1979 sur l'asile, article 22, alinéa 2). Sur le p r o b l è m e du statut des r é f u g i é s , cf. Raape/Sturm, IPR Band I , 1977, p. 144 et suiv.
b Succession soumise à la loi du domicile
Comme c'est le cas pour le rattachement à la loi natio-nale, on prend g é n é r a l e m e n t en c o n s i d é r a t i o n le dernier domicile du d é f u n t . Mais ici é g a l e m e n t , on constate que certains projets récents tiennent compte des p r o b l è m e s spéciaux des testaments et des pactes successoraux. A i n -si, le projet suisse dispose que le pacte successoral est régi par le droit de l'Etat dans lequel le disposant est domicilié au moment de la conclusion du pacte et, si dans le pacte le disposant soumet toute sa succession à son droit national, par ce dernier droit. Les dispositions r é c i p r o q u e s mortis causa sont valables si elles sont con-formes au droit du domicile de chacun des disposants ou à un droit national commun qu'ils ont choisi (article 93). Le projet argentin admet la validité matérielle d'un testament, régi en principe par la loi du dernier domi-cile, si elle est conforme à la loi du lieu de l'accomplisse-ment de l'acte. La r é f é r e n c e au droit contemporain de la r é d a c t i o n du testament se retrouve aux Etats-Unis pour autant qu'il s'agisse de la succession m o b i l i è r e , par
• exemple article 3-5.1.(d) de VEstates, Powers and Trusts Law de 1966 de l'état- de New York: un changement u l t é r i e u r de domicile n'affecte pas la validité du testa-ment au motesta-ment de sa r é d a c t i o n .
U n p h é n o m è n e intéressant que l'on peut constater dans plusieurs projets de lois de droit international privé ré-cents est que l'on d é t a c h e la notion du domicile de celle du droit civil interne. Le projet suisse en fournit un exemple (article 19), le projet argentin (définition très d é -taillée, article 8) un autre. Le projet québécois fait m ê m e preuve d'une influence du droit civil par le droit inter-national privé: la nouvelle définition du domicile, de l'article 60 du premier Livre des Personnes du projet de r é f o r m e du Code civil q u é b é c o i s , à savoir la «résidence h a b i t u e l l e » , semble ê t r e e m p r u n t é e à la notion corres-pondante des conflits de lois (Livre 9, article 7).
O n voit d'ailleurs que les projets suisse et québécois sui-vent des voies o p p o s é e s : alors que le premier estime qu'en m a t i è r e successorale la résidence habituelle est trop faible comme critère et p r é f è r e un facteur de ratta-chement plus stable, le projet q u é b é c o i s c o n s i d è r e que l'inclusion comme é l é m e n t essentiel de l'intention de s'établir du d é f u n t a m è n e à des incertitudes, et p r é f è r e donc la notion de la résidence habituelle.
I l est à signaler que le Conseil de l'Europe a a d o p t é le 28 janvier 1972 une Recommandation relative à l'unifica-tion des concepts juridiques de «domicile» et de «rési-d e n c e » ( R é s o l u t i o n 72(1) «rési-du C o m i t é «rési-des Ministres).
Cette Recommandation a incité notamment les législa-teurs français et britanniques à supprimer le concept du domicile légal de la femme m a r i é e .
Selon la règle ancienne du comtnon law, la femme, au
Selon la règle ancienne du comtnon law, la femme, au