Information About

Comity




Part of the presumption of comity is that other nations will reciprocate the courtesy shown to them. Many statutes relating to the enforcement of foreign judgments require that the judgments of a particular country will only be recognized and enforced by a forum to the extent that the other country would recognize and enforce the judgments rendered by that forum.

However, comity should not be misinterpreted as implying that all laws are of universal jurisdiction. In many countries, comity is effective only to the extent that foreign laws or judgments do not directly conflict with the forum country's public policy. For example, the United States Of America will not enforce foreign judgments that present a direct conflict with the strong U.S. public policy in favor of Free Speech .


HISTORY


The principle of comity first arose through the work of a 17th-century Dutch jurist, Ulrich Huber . It was subsequently refined by the American judge Joseph Story .