Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Applicable law definition

What does Applicable law mean? Applicable law describes the body of law that actually governs a dispute, transaction or issue in practice—either because the parties have made a valid governing law (choice‑of‑law) clause, or, absent such a clause, because conflict‑of‑laws rules select it. The term is descriptive rather than a defined statutory label and is used across contracts, tort/delict, property and regulatory compliance. In England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if no valid choice is made, the applicable law of contractual obligations is identified under Rome I as retained EU law; for non‑contractual obligations, Rome II as retained EU law applies. In...

Choice of law under the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990: modified Rome Convention for 1991–2009 contracts—scope, exclusions, post‑Brexit interpretation, renvoi, public policy, and validity

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Practice notes

This Practice Note considers the Application and Scope of the Contracts (Applicable law) Act 1990 (C(AL)A 1990)

This Practice Note explores how and to what extent the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990 (C(AL)A 1990)-a tailored form of the Rome Convention on the law governing contractual obligations-operates. English courts (the courts of England and Wales) apply C(AL)A 1990 when selecting the governing law for contractual disputes arising from agreements concluded between 1 April 1991 and 16 December 2009. To confirm whether the regime in C(AL)A 1990 applies, see Practice Note: Applicable law-a guide for Dispute resolution practitioners. This Practice Note draws on:

The Official Report on the Rome Convention by Professors Giuliano and Lagarde (the Giuliano-Lagarde report). Section 3 of C(AL)A 1990 allows this report to be considered to assist in interpreting the provisions of the convention contained in Schedule 1 to C(AL)A 1990.
Decisions of the Court of Justice. For guidance on whether judgments of the Court of Justice are binding on UK courts, see Q&A: Are UK courts and tribunals bound by decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union...

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Web page updated on 29/05/2026

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