Die Beweislast bei Kollisionsnormen

Maximilian Seibl deals with the burden of proof in respect to German and European private international law provisions, more specifically with the question as to how a »non liquet« situation can be solved and what consequences for the parties of a lawsuit result from this. The problem derives from the structure of private international law provisions which establish a connection between the facts of the case and the applicable law by the so-called »connecting factor«. In many cases one party claims the existence of a certain connecting factor pointing to a specific legal system whereas the other party denies this connection and alleges the applicability of another legal system based on the same connecting factor; if it remains uncertain whether the connecting factor actually points to the one or the other legal system, it is indispensable to find a solution. As the connecting factor usually features an open character - i.e. it can establish a connection with every existing legal system on principle - whereas substantive law provisions only distinguish between the existence and the non-existence of certain facts, the conventional principles of the burden of proof must be modified. The book offers a differentiated solution to this problem that keeps the connection with those principles but also takes the private international law and the respective procedural implications into consideration.