NCJ Number
130164
Journal
American Journal of Comparative Law Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1990) Pages: 73-101
Date Published
1990
Length
29 pages
Annotation
The focus of this article is on the Dutch contribution to the service of process rule developed in the early years of the American Republic.
Abstract
Justice Joseph Story is credited with creation of the service of process rule in his 1834 treatise on conflict of laws. The author's thesis is that years before Justice Story published his conflicts treatise, the service of process rule was well-established in American jurisprudence. Part I demonstrates that a highly territorial conception of judicial jurisdiction, including the service of process rule, is found in the writings of Ulric Huber, who published his works a century before Story was born. Part II investigates the influence of Huber's works, both on Story's writings and on American jurisdictional decisions that preceded Story's writings. Part II also suggests that the similarity between the American and Dutch conception of jurisdiction may be a product of similar problems of interstate relationships faced by the American and Dutch federations. The article concludes by considering the light this history sheds on contemporary jurisdictional problems. 127 footnotes