The distinction of legal orders and systems in conflicts of laws.

Summary This study seeks to clarify the meaning of the word "laws" in the expression "conflict of laws". This expression is still fraught with deep ambiguities, as is shown by the synonymy recognized in this area with the notions of "order" and "legal system". This is easily understood: a system may appear as an "ordered" whole and order as a "systematic whole". However, the legal order is in reality an "institution" and not a "system" of norms. On the other hand, any body of rules of law concerning individuals can be considered as an autonomous and complete whole, and in this sense constitutes a true "system", but not a "legal order". The conflict of laws thus appears as a conflict of "legal systems" arbitrated by "legal orders". This statement is not without consequences for the method of conflict of laws in general and for the operation of the principle of autonomy in particular.