International law, as a separate law, distinct from public international law, split off in the second half of the 20th century. This was due to practical necessity. The fact is that from that moment on, interpersonal relations in society in which there was a foreign element began to manifest most often.
The foreign element is considered in three forms:
1) The subject is a foreign citizen;
2) Object - the location of an object on the territory of a foreign state;
3) Legal fact;
4) Mixed - that is, there are several of the above elements.
The German and Italian schools were pioneers in private international law. They agreed in the conclusion that it is impossible to apply a law to a person, the action of which is alien to him. In addition, a real need arose for one state to recognize a legitimate legal fact that occurred in another state.
The only cases when it is possible to deviate from the postulate: "application of his national law to a person" were:
1) The national law of a foreign state is contrary to the public policy of the state of residence.
2) The person refused to apply national law to him.
3) The action of the principle, which sounds like this: "the form of the transaction is determined by the place of its execution."
If we talk about the place where private international law appeared, then it originated in Europe, but got its name in the USA. Having delved into the very name of private international law, one can see that the main semantic load is carried by the word "private". In this context, it means that non-public relations are subject to regulation, where subjects are equal and not subordinate to each other. And the word "international" means that there is an international element.
