mandatory rules
(mandatory provisions; lois de police) Those laws that are considered so important for the economic, social, and cultural operation of the country that they cannot be derogated from through the agreement of contracting parties. Such rules seek to safeguard the public interest or protect the weaker contracting party. They can be contrasted with default or variable rules, which the parties can modify or override with a contractual agreement to the contrary. Statutory legislation can indicate if rules are not variable, and in other instances this is determined by the courts. See public policy.

In private international law, the Rome I Regulation (which is part of retained EU law in the UK) states that if a foreign law is chosen but “all other elements relevant to the situation at the time of the choice are located in a country other than the country whose law has been chosen”, then the mandatory rules of that law should be applied (art 3(3)), mandatory rules of the forum can be applied, and the court can choose to apply mandatory rules of the place of performance if these render performance of the contract unlawful (art 9).

• principal
• Principal Registry
• principle of legality
• priority
• priority notice
• priority of assignment
• priority of mortgages
• priority of time
• privacy
• private Act
• private Bill
• private carrier
• private company
• private defence
• private foster parent
• private international law
• private law
• private life
• private member’s Bill
• private nuisance
• privatization
• privilege
• privileged communication
• privileged will
• privilege of witness