Article on Domicile
Domicile
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Domicile is considered to be a connecting factor which links a person with a particular legal system. This legal system includes his personal law which determines the legal capacity of that person as for example whether that person has the legal capacity to marry or how the property of a deceased person is to be distributed. For instance a married man domiciled in England is under the jurisdiction of England for purposes of dissolving or annulling his marriage.
The concept of domicile is not just confined to conflict of laws but also extends to tax law and in fact many leading judgments defining domicile are tax cases.
1.1 Definition of Domicile:
The general meaning of domicile is 'permanent home'. But Lord Cranworth V-C in Whicker v Hume has defined domicile as,
"By 'domicile' we mean home, the permanent home; and if you do not understand your permanent home, I am afraid that no illustration drawn from foreign writers or foreign languages will very much help you to it. I think the best I have heard is one which describes the home as the place (I believe there is one definition in which the 'lares' are alluded to), the place 'unde non sit discessurus si nihal avocet; unde cum profectus est, peregrinari videtur.' I think that it is the best illustration, and I use that word rather than definition, to describe what I mean."
Therefore a person is said to have home in a country where he resides permanently without any intention of moving. On the other hand a person does not cease to have his permanent home in a country merely because he is temporarily residing elsewhere.
But the traditional concept of domicile has received criticism from reform agencies in England as well as in other countries which follow English common law. This disapprobation is based mainly on two grounds, which were also pointed out in 1954 (First Report of the Private International Law Committee, Cmnd 9068).
First point of contention relates to the
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Domicile is considered to be a connecting factor which links a person with a particular legal system. This legal system includes his personal law which determines the legal capacity of that person as for example whether that person has the legal capacity to marry or how the property of a deceased person is to be distributed. For instance a married man domiciled in England is under the jurisdiction of England for purposes of dissolving or annulling his marriage.
The concept of domicile is not just confined to conflict of laws but also extends to tax law and in fact many leading judgments defining domicile are tax cases.
1.1 Definition of Domicile:
The general meaning of domicile is 'permanent home'. But Lord Cranworth V-C in Whicker v Hume has defined domicile as,
"By 'domicile' we mean home, the permanent home; and if you do not understand your permanent home, I am afraid that no illustration drawn from foreign writers or foreign languages will very much help you to it. I think the best I have heard is one which describes the home as the place (I believe there is one definition in which the 'lares' are alluded to), the place 'unde non sit discessurus si nihal avocet; unde cum profectus est, peregrinari videtur.' I think that it is the best illustration, and I use that word rather than definition, to describe what I mean."
Therefore a person is said to have home in a country where he resides permanently without any intention of moving. On the other hand a person does not cease to have his permanent home in a country merely because he is temporarily residing elsewhere.
But the traditional concept of domicile has received criticism from reform agencies in England as well as in other countries which follow English common law. This disapprobation is based mainly on two grounds, which were also pointed out in 1954 (First Report of the Private International Law Committee, Cmnd 9068).
First point of contention relates to the