Successions internationales et (sémi-)loi fédérale sur le droit interna-tional privé : quelques défis Gian Paolo Romano)

More human beings than ever before give their property a cross-border di­men­sion by maintaining as­sets in multiple countries. Treaties on free movement of persons as well as tax and economic co­o­pe­ra­tion trea­ties are a testa­ment to the growing pro­pensity by State communities to facilitate mo­bility and multi-na­­­tio­­na­lisation of the wealth of their ci­tizens. Just as cross-border estates can only arise through inter-country coordi­na­­tion, de­ter­mining how cross-border estates will devolve upon death ne­ces­sarily de­mands a similar co­or­dination. A self-de­cla­red « law » e­mana­ting from a single country, such as the Swiss « LDIP », who­se bin­ding effect is confined within the Swiss territory, can­not alone pretend to go­vern suc­ces­sions that are precisely cross-bor­der, i.e. mul­ti-territorial, but it’s a « se­mi-law » at best that has to har­monise with that of the other countries in­vol­ved. Other­­wise, con­flicts of laws, juris­dic­tions and judg­ments threa­ten to arise and the resulting legal dis­­or­der ends up ham­­­pering estate plan­­ning by property owners, sti­mu­la­ting wars among their survivors and potentially dis­­cou­ra­ging human beings from moving and investing across borders.