Extraterritorial Discovery: Cooperation, Coercion and the Hague Evidence Convention

This Article reviews the most recent case law on this issue and examines the results of those cases in the light of existing principles of comity and of the newly promulgated Restatement of Foreign Relations Law of the United States (Revised). The analysis focuses on three important appellate court decisions, all of which are or have been before the United States Supreme Court, and examines the contents and origins of the United States Government's position on these issues as found in amicus briefs submitted in these cases. The article concludes with an evaluation of the dilemma evidenced by the need to give Hague Evidence Convention member-states the greatest possible access to foreign-situs evidence while maintaining the mutual respect for conflicting national interests that is essential to an effective system for international cooperation.