International Comity in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

In the United States many of the doctrines that mediate the relationships between different legal systems are viewed as manifestations of international comity. Continental European states have similar doctrines but do not see them through a comity lens. This chapter explains the difference in approach through the influence of Joseph Story in the United States and Friedrich Carl von Savigny in Europe. While explaining that international comity does not preclude the adoption of rules or the codification of doctrines, the chapter suggests that international comity highlights the distinction between domestic law and international law, emphasizes the freedom of each state to shape these doctrines as it sees fit, and makes it easier to see interrelationships among the doctrines.

Keywords: international comity, mutual trust, Joseph Story, Savigny