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Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 12-20

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 12-20, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 12, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 12,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Definitions

Official statutory text

A. As used in this section:

1. "Foreign law" means any law, legal code, or system of a

jurisdiction outside of any state or territory of the United States,

including, but not limited to, international organizations and

tribunals, and applied by that jurisdiction's courts, administrative

bodies, or other formal or informal tribunals. For the purposes of

this section, foreign law shall not mean, nor shall it include, any

laws of the federally recognized American Indian tribes or nations

in this state or territory of the United States;

2. "Court" means any court, board, administrative agency, or

other adjudicative or enforcement authority of this state; and

3. "Religious organization" means any church, seminary,

synagogue, temple, mosque, religious order, religious corporation,

association, or society, whose identity is distinctive in terms of

common religious creed, beliefs, doctrines, practices, or rituals,

of any faith or denomination, including any organization qualifying

as a church or religious organization under Section 501(c)(3) or

501(d) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

B. Any court, arbitration, tribunal, or administrative agency

ruling or decision shall violate the public policy of this state and

be void and unenforceable if the court, arbitration, tribunal, or

administrative agency bases its rulings or decisions in the matter

at issue in whole or in part on foreign law that would not grant the

parties affected by the ruling or decision the same fundamental

liberties, rights, and privileges granted under the United States

and Oklahoma Constitutions, including but not limited to due

process, freedom of religion, speech, or press, and any right of

privacy or marriage as specifically defined by the Constitution of

this state.

C. A contract or contractual provision, if capable of

segregation, which provides for the choice of a foreign law to

govern some or all of the disputes between the parties shall violate

the public policy of this state and be void and unenforceable if the

foreign law chosen includes or incorporates any substantive or

procedural law, as applied to the dispute at issue, that would not

grant the parties at least the same fundamental liberties, rights,

and privileges granted under the United States and Oklahoma

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure Page 34

Constitutions, including but not limited to due process, freedom of

religion, speech, or press, and any right of privacy or marriage as

specifically defined by the Constitution of this state.

D. 1. A contract or contractual provision, if capable of

segregation, which provides for a jurisdiction for purposes of

granting the courts or arbitration panels in personam jurisdiction

over the parties to adjudicate any disputes between parties arising

from the contract shall violate the public policy of this state and

be void and unenforceable if the jurisdiction chosen includes any

foreign law as applied to the dispute at issue, that would not grant

the parties at least the same fundamental liberties, rights, and

privileges granted under the United States and Oklahoma

Constitutions, including but not limited to due process, freedom of

religion, speech, or press, and any right of privacy or marriage as

specifically defined by the Constitution of this state.

2. If a resident of this state, subject to personal

jurisdiction in this state, seeks to maintain litigation,

arbitration, agency or similarly binding proceedings in this state

and if the courts of this state find that granting a claim of forum

non conveniens or a related claim violates or would likely lead to

the application of foreign law that would not grant a nonclaimant at

least the same fundamental liberties, rights, and privileges granted

under the United States and Oklahoma Constitutions, then it is the

public policy of this state that the claim shall be denied.
if the courts of this state find that granting a claim of forum

non conveniens or a related claim violates or would likely lead to

the application of foreign law that would not grant a nonclaimant at

least the same fundamental liberties, rights, and privileges granted

under the United States and Oklahoma Constitutions, then it is the

public policy of this state that the claim shall be denied.

E. This section shall not apply to any contract or agreement to

which a corporation, partnership, limited liability company,

business association, or other legal entity binds itself.

F. No court or arbitrator shall interpret this section to limit

the right of any person to the free exercise of religion as

guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution

and by the Constitution of this state. No court shall interpret

this section to require or authorize any court to adjudicate, or

prohibit any religious organization from adjudicating,

ecclesiastical matters, including, but not limited to, the election,

appointment, calling, discipline, dismissal, removal or

excommunication of a member, officer, official, priest, nun, monk,

pastor, rabbi, imam or member of the clergy, of the religious

organization, or determination or interpretation of the doctrine of

the religious organization, where adjudication by a court would

violate the prohibition of the establishment clause of the First

Amendment of the United States Constitution, or violate the

Constitution of this state.

G. This section shall not be interpreted by any court to

conflict with any federal treaty including, but not limited to, any

treaty with any federally recognized American Indian tribe or

nation, or other international agreement to which the United States

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure Page 35

is a party to the extent that such treaty or international agreement

preempts or is superior to state law on the matter at issue.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.