The public policy exception is a notorious part of choice of law doctrine. The exception allows courts to refuse to apply foreign law selected by first-order choice of law rules that violates the forum’s fundamental principles of morality and justice. As a doctrinal matter, public policy is a well-established part of the architecture of choice of law. But scholars have struggled to understand why it should be part of choice of law doctrine, given the normative structure of the field; how to differentiate between the fundamental and non-fundamental norms that inform its use; and how to understand the leading public policy cases in a coherent way. In this Article, I offer a solution to these three problems. I argue we should reconceptualize the exception as a means by which courts can analyze the substance of foreign law to ensure that it complies with the rule of law, and thus can be applied ‘as a law’ in the forum. More specifically, public policy is how common law courts ensure that any foreign law they apply complies with the distinctive substantive requirements of the rule of law in the common law tradition – what is known as the common law constitution. Public policy thus defines the frontiers of legality in the common law tradition, and defends against threats from the rule of law that come from beyond the border. This approach justifies the inclusion of the exception in choice of law doctrine, given the field’s other normative commitments. It can also help distinguish between the fundamental and non-fundamental norms that should define the ambit of public policy. Finally, this approach may offer a coherent account of the doctrine, as numerous leading cases can be reinterpreted to track the fundamental principles of legality that inhere in the common law constitution.

中文翻译：

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合法性前沿：理解法律选择中的公共政策例外

公共政策例外是法律选择学说中臭名昭著的一部分。该例外允许法院拒绝适用由一阶法律选择规则选择的违反法院道德和正义基本原则的外国法律。作为一个教义问题，公共政策是法律选择架构中公认的一部分。但是鉴于该领域的规范结构，学者们一直在努力理解为什么它应该成为法律学说选择的一部分。如何区分指导其使用的基本规范和非基本规范；以及如何以连贯的方式理解主要的公共政策案例。在本文中，我为这三个问题提供了一个解决方案。我认为我们应该将例外重新概念化为法院可以分析外国法律实质以确保其符合法治的一种手段，因此可以在法庭上“作为法律”适用。更具体地说，公共政策是普通法法院如何确保其适用的任何外国法律符合普通法传统中法治的独特实质性要求——即所谓的普通法宪法。因此，公共政策界定了普通法传统中的合法性边界，并防御来自边界之外的法治威胁。鉴于该领域的其他规范性承诺，这种方法证明了在法律选择学说中包含例外是合理的。它还可以帮助区分应该定义公共政策范围的基本规范和非基本规范。最后，这种方法可以提供对该学说的连贯解释，因为可以重新解释许多主要案例以追踪普通法宪法中固有的合法性基本原则。