International comity—the broad discretionary doctrine under which courts in one territory seek to avoid intruding into matters touching on the laws and interests of other sovereign states—arises in a variety of contexts. We discuss below three recent decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that explore this doctrine in connection with requests for discovery in aid of foreign litigation, and in assessing the impact of a foreign insolvency proceeding on litigation in this district.
28 U.S.C. §1782 Applications
The provision 28 U.S.C. §1782 permits a federal district court to order discovery from a person or entity residing or found within its district for use in a proceeding before a foreign tribunal. Inasmuch as §1782, by its very nature, injects U.S. courts into the legal proceedings of other countries, the extensive body of case law surrounding its interpretation and application relies on principles of comity to define the line between assisting foreign proceedings and interfering with them.
