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  • Transnational Law and the Doctrine of Comity

  • An Introduction:

    It is necessary to begin by agreeing on the meanings of the terms in the title, Transnational Law and the Doctrine of Comity.

    First, one might ask why transnational instead of international law?  Phillip C. Jessup begins his book Transnational Law by addressing this question:  The term "'international' is misleading since it suggests that one is concerned only with the relations of one nation (or state) to other nations (or states)."1  So he chooses transnational instead to "include all law which regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers."2


    Transnational law is basically the "(G)eneral principles of law recognized by civilized nations."3  The annotated bibliography, to which this introduction refers, includes references that will better elucidate the meaning of transnational law in the context of modern international law, as well as the meaning of comity.  But, in the words of Justice Blackmun, "(C)omity is not just a vague political concern favoring international cooperation when it is in our interest to do so. Rather it is a principle under which judicial decisions reflect the systematic value of reciprocal tolerance and goodwill ."4


  • Hague Conference on Private International Law
    http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=events.details&year=2011&varevent=248
  • The Hague
    The Hague

    Peace Palace



  •   Philip C. Jessup, Transnational Law, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. 1956, p. 1.
    Id.
    Black’s Law Dictionary 632 (Pocket Edition 1996).
    Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale v. United States Dist. Court for S. Dist., 482 U.S. 522, 555 (U.S. 1987).


  • The Sedona Conference
    The Sedona Conference
  • The Annotated Bibliography

  • "Transnational Law and the Doctrine of Comity" is presented in the form of an annotated bibliography attached below.  The sources listed below are those used in the annotated bibliography.

    If the reader is not familiar with what an annotated bibliography is, it should become clear as soon as the document is opened.  But briefly, the paper presents each source with the bibliographical information first, instead of last as in a traditional research paper.  Following the bibliographical information is a paragraph describing and evaluating the information in the referenced work.

    An annotated bibliography was chosen for two reasons.  First, I felt that a traditional narrative paper might give the reader the impression that the sources used are the most authoritative available.  While I have sought authoritative sources, the impression I want to make on the reader is that there is a plethora of information available regarding these subjects and the few presented here only scratch the surface.  Also, the amount of information that will become available will undoubtedly grow, if not exponentially, at least geometrically.  (Math aside, by "geometrically" I mean we can have no idea, what with the development in electronic storage and transfer constantly changing, where the knowledge base will stand one, five, or ten years from now.  Transnational law coupled with the need for comity is, in my opinion, becoming more complicated and more technical with the growth of and dependence on digital information, the internet, and thus the ease with which electronic information is created, stored, transferred, and spoiled. 

    I was, in fact, first attracted by the idea of discovery in the electronic age and with cross-border litigation.  But even a cursory examination of the complexity of that subject showed me I did not yet possess the expertise to present a credible paper on it.

    This leads smoothly into the second reason I chose the annotated bibliography.  A traditional paper might also give the reader the impression that I am a more authoritative reporter on the subject than I am.  I was a student of the topics here presented when I began, and I am even more the student now.  In terms of finding out more and learning more, I feel like I'm regressing.  Like Fitzgerald's Benjamin Button, I grow older but only get younger in relation to [knowing] the world.



  • Table of Contents

  • 1.         Molly Warner Lien, The Cooperative and Integrative Models of International Judicial Comity: Two Illustrations Using Transnational Discovery and Breard Scenarios.

     2.         Brian Cabrera, 5 Essential Elements of a Global Compliance Program, Law Technology News.

     3.         M. James Daley, A Call to Dialogue: EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party Document 158 on Discovery for Cross-Border Civil Litigation, Georgetown Law.

     4.         Jonathan I. Handler and Erica Tennyson, International Discovery Requests Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 .

     5.        Presented by: Hon. Brian M. Cogan, U.S.D.J., Conflicts in Transnational Discovery.

    6.         Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters

    7.         Alan Charles Raul, Edward McNicholas and Elisa Jillson, Reconciling European Data Privacy Concerns with US Discovery Rules: Conflict and Comity

    8.       The Sedona Conference® International Principles on Discovery/ Disclosure/Data Protection.

This portfolio last updated: 22-Feb-2023 11:25 AM