from Belgium on a ship flying the flag of Panama to a Swedish port. Adopting a rule such as the lex loci contractus, i.e. apply the law of the place where the contract was made, might actually select a law having no other connection with the substance of the bargain made by the parties. Similarly, picking the lex loci solutionis, i.e. the law of the place where the contract is to be performed, may prove to be equally irrelevant, assuming that there is only one place where performance is to occur: in the example, there is manufacture in Greece, delivery to Belgium, loading in Belgium, carriage on the high seas, and unloading in Sweden. So, if the contract does not make an express selection of the law to apply (see the choice of law clause), the parties are deemed to have chosen to be bound by the law with which the contract has the closest and most real connection. Conclusion The general rule is that the proper law is the primary system of law that governs most aspects of the factual situation giving rise to the dispute. This does not imply that all the aspects of the factual circumstances are necessarily governed by the same system of law, but there is a strong presumption that this will be the case (see characterization). So, the process of legal analysis undertaken by the courts in each case identifies all the facts that have a specific geographical connection, e.g. where the parties reside or their businesses operate, where an agreement was made, where relevant actions were performed, etc. Once all the relevant connecting factors have been identified, the law of the state that has the greatest number of connections will be the proper law. In the event of a tie, the connecting factors which relate to performance will be given greater weight than the connecting factors affect form. In most cases, this weighting will produce a clear winner. Conflict of laws Legal doctrines and principles