Comity in Private International Law and Fundamental Principles of Justice

This essay considers the underlying rationale for the principle of comity in private international law. It explains the meaning and operation of a widely accepted limit to the principle which applies when comity runs contrary to fundamental principles of justice, by drawing on insights provided by Adrian Briggs in his lectures on comity to the Hague Academy of International Law. The essay uses the principle of privacy as a case study to assess whether new fundamental principles of justice might arise and, if so, how they might be recognised.