【Case Study】

Oppenheimer v.Cattermole,(1942)A.C.249

Two German Jewish refugees,a father and his son fled to Britain in 1940s where the father died.The question before the English court was whether his movables in England should be distributed to his son or to be passed to the British government.English conflict rules referred matter of succession to German law.However,Jewish people were deprived of the capacity to succeed by the Nazi Decree.The House of Lords,accordingly,felt itself bound to hold that the German law should govern the present case.(https://www.daowen.com)

Nevertheless,the majority ultimately favoured rejecting it,reliance being placed on public policy.As Loss Cross said,“[A] law of this sort is so grave an infringement of human rights,moral principles of human society and the public policy of this country that the court ought to refuse it.” The decision of this case is a classical example of the application of public order reservation.