As the reader probably knows, the US Vitamin C
cartel litigation, culminating in a judgment by the 2nd Circuit
federal court on 20 September 2016, was a watershed case—not
with regard to cartel law, but rather, whether the US courts had
jurisdiction under the circumstances. The 2nd Circuit
court overturned the decision of the federal district court by
holding that the international law principle of comity prevented
the assertion of jurisdiction.
The purpose of this brief paper is to explain what the concept
of comity is, how it differs from the defense of State compulsion,
and how Chinese companies, in particular SOEs, may benefit from
this knowledge.
Comity is a principle of public international law. In a
legal context, comity traditionally refers to the recognition by
the courts of one country (or legal system) of the laws and
judicial acts of another, but this concept may also extend to
recognition by administrative bodies of enforcement actions taken
by
