International private law deals with the first questions that arise when a legal dispute between civil law subjects (such as individuals or private companies) involves the legal systems of more than a single country. When the parties to a dispute are not nationals or residents of the same country, the courts of which country will judge the case? Does the claimant have a choice in which country to initiate a lawsuit? And what if the parties are from the same place, but the dispute is about property located abroad, injury caused in another land, or contracts signed and performed at various international locations? Indeed several of these difficulties may arise simultaneously, and be possibly complicated by the issue that national courts may be called upon to apply not only the laws of their own country, but some laws of another country as well. These complex questions are regulated by some international treaties, acts of the European Union, or acts of national legislatures. Taking international private law into account very early in a legal relationship involving international elements may well serve the interests of both parties.