s, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other
State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in
which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect
thereof.

Sources and Effect of This Provision

PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

The historical background of the above section is furnished by that
branch of private law which is variously termed "Private International
Law," "Conflict of Laws," "Comity." This comprises a body of rules,
based largely on the writings of jurists and judicial decisions, in
accordance with which the courts of one country or "jurisdiction" will
ordinarily, in the absence of a local policy to the contrary, extend
recognition and enforcement to rights claimed by individuals by virtue
of the laws or judicial decisions of another country or "jurisdiction."
Most frequently applied examples of these rules include the following:
the rule that a marriage which is good in the country where performed
(_lex loci_) is good elsewhere; likewise the rule that contracts are to
be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the country where entered
into (_lex loci contractus_) unless the parties clearly intended
otherwise; also the rule that immovables may be disposed of only in
accordance with the law of the country where situated (_lex rei
sitae_);[1] also the converse rule that chattels adhere to the person of
their owner and hence are disposable by him, even when located
elsewhere, in accordance with the law of his domicile (_lex domicilii_);
also the rule that regardless of where the cause arose, the courts of
any country where personal service can be got upon the defendant will
take jurisdiction of certain types of personal actions, hence termed
"transitory," and accord such remedy as the _lex fori_ affords. Still
other rules, of first importance in the present connection, determine
the recognition which the judgments of the courts of one country shall
receive from those of another country.

IMPORTANCE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

So even had the States of the Union remained in a mutual relationship of
entire independence, still private claims originating in one would often
have been assured recognition and enforcement in the others. The framers
of the Constitution felt, however, that the rules of private
international law should not be left as among the States altogether on a
basis of comity, and hence subject always to the overruling local policy
of t