Law Complementation andJurisdiction in International Divorce

(By Ningning Zhao accepted byPrivate International Law Conference, 2013)

[Abstract]

The promulgation andimplementation of the “Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Choice of Lawfor Foreign-related Civil Relationships”(hereafter referred to as “the Law onChoice of Law”) opened up a new era in international law in China, whichbrought many breakthroughs in this field in China. In the law on Choice of Law,the choice of law on foreign-related divorce is one of the most importantimprovements comparing the previous legal stipulations, the new law onforeign-related divorce is significant to the further study and lawimplementation in this field.

However, in the judicial practice, some articles, especially,article 26 and article 27, are facing obstacles while being implemented in thespecific cases, and it is difficult to implement them effectively andfruitfully. Firstly, the stipulations on Chinese courts’ jurisdiction areimperfect, which usually cause the confusion while the law is chosen andapplied. Secondly, in the process of divorce by agreement, it’s impossible torealize the choice on the law applied to the specific divorce case explicitlyand operationally. Therefore, the author of this article studied the legalstipulations on foreign-related divorce in current Chinese laws, including theLaw on Choice of Law and other related civil laws, analyzed the problems andimpediment while implementing the Law on Choice of Law in juridical practice.Finally, the author made a comparative study on judicial practice between Chinaand other countries and then forwarded the reasonable suggestions on how tosettle the questions on the implementation of the Law on Choice of Law inpractice.

[Key Words] Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Choice of Law forForeign-related Civil Relationships, foreign-related divorce, law implement,jurisdiction