applicable law; governing law; proper law
Legal term used in private international law to refer to the law that governs a particular legal relationship or dispute, often determined by conflict-of-law rules.
The governing law of the contract shall be Japanese law.
In international transactions, the choice of applicable law is important.
Compound of 準拠 (じゅんきょ, 'basis' or 'standard') and 法 (ほう, 'law'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is a modern legal coinage.