ABSTRACT
In English litigation relating to contracts, choice of the applicable substantive law is now governed largely by EC Regulation 593/2008 on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations, which is usually referred to as the Rome I Regulation.1 By Art 24(1) the Regulation replaces the Rome Convention 1980,2 which was given the force of law in the United Kingdom by the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990. The Regulation applies to contracts concluded after its entry into application on 17 December 2009, and the Convention remains applicable in the United Kingdom to contracts concluded between 1 April 1991 and 16 December 2009.3 In most respects the Regulation closely resembles the Convention, and in general, case law decided under the Convention remains reliable in relation to corresponding provisions of the Regulation.4 In this Chapter we shall focus on the Regulation, but important departures from the Convention will be noted.5
