Abstract
This chapter considers the role of two concepts – the doctrine of renvoi, and the problem of the preliminary (or incidental) question – in the unification of private international law. The concepts are distinct. They each have their own methodology and body of law. Yet they tend to be relevant in similar circumstances, and they both raise the question whether the conflict of laws rules of the lex causae should be applied. For example, when determining the validity of a marriage, a court may consider answering the question not by reference to the internal law of the lex causae but by reference to the law identified by the applicable law rules of the lex causae (renvoi). Similarly, when determining the validity of a marriage for the purposes of determining a party’s entitlement to inherit as a wife, the court may consider dispensing with its own conflict of laws rules on status altogether, in order to apply the conflict of laws rules of the law governing the succession (incidental question).