What is "International Private Law"?

Private international law is that area of law which object is basically the study of conflicts of international jurisdiction, conflicts of international laws, procedural cooperation and determining the legal status of foreigners.

Private international law analyzes international legal relationships, whether between private parties, or where there is a private interest. This legal relationship has the particularity of having an element foreign to local law, which raises either conflicts of jurisdiction or applicable law, and its purpose is to determine who can know about the subject and what law should be applied.

In some countries this area of law is known as international civil law.

Private international law does not solve conflicts, but determines the norm or law of which country should be used in the resolution of international conflicts, as well as the judge who will resolve this controversy (normative position).

Modernly the doctrine is changing towards a substantialist position, where within private international law standards are included that directly resolve the cases that may arise, and the study of this area of law focuses, not on the indirect norm or conflict, but in international private legal relations, which is where the controversies that international private law will take care of really focuses on.