Unilag Law Review

The University of Lagos Law Review (“Unilag Law Review”) in its 2022 issue recently published articles on Nigerian law. One of the articles is focused on conflict of laws:

P Oladimeji, “Simplifying the Doctrine of Renvoi under Conflict of Laws”

The doctrine of Renvoi is a topic in Conflict of Laws that posits a stumbling block, more often than anticipated, to students of the academic discourse trying to understand the scope of Conflict of Laws and how the framework of this topic applies in international matters. As such, this paper is an effort by the writer to simplify the tenets of the doctrine of Renvoi, its applicability, and its suppositions as reflected by scholars of English jurisprudence who dealt extensively with the doctrine at the time of its inception in the early 20th century. The paper begins with an introduction to the doctrine of Renvoi and its meaning per Private International Law; and then proceeds to distil the doctrine further by looking at the theories concocted by early scholars of its discourse as to its functionality in law. This paper also looks at the often quoted types of Renvoi and simplifies the difference(s) between these types as much as possible. Following this, the paper analyses the challenges brought to bear by the application of Renvoi in international matters – challenges that have led to rising arguments for and against the application of the doctrine as is.