WRIGHT— POWER TO MEET RESPONSIBILITIES. 279 



122. Sufficiency of Existing Legislation in Aid of Foreign Criminal 

 Justice. 

 Nor has the United States held that there is any international 

 duty to aid foreign criminal justice. Although Congress has pro- 

 vided, in pursuance of a generally recognized duty of comity, for 

 the execution by Federal courts of letters rogatory from foreign 

 states requesting the taking of testimon}^ in " suits for the recovery 

 of money or property,"' it has made no provision for the taking of 

 testimony in criminal cases.^* The states also have generally re- 

 fused to compel testimony for foreign criminal trials.^^ 



"The taking of testimony," said the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, 

 "by deposition for criminal cases is unknown to our system of jurisprudence, 

 and section 9 of Article I of the Declaration of Rights in our Constitution 

 provides that in all criminal prosecutions the accused hath the right to meet 

 the witnesses face to face. I am, therefore, of the opinion that the courts of 

 this Commonwealth are not competent to receive these letters rogatory and to 

 enforce the testimony of this witness by deposition or answers to interroga- 

 tories, to be used in the criminal cause." 



The same distinction has been recognized in reference to the 

 execution of foreign judgments. In civil cases, the rule of reci- 

 procity has been established by international comity, thus the fed- 

 eral courts carry out the judgments of foreign courts which will 

 reciprocate.^^ But not so with criminal judgments. The United 

 States has never itself enforced a criminal judgment of a foreign 

 state nor has it as a general practice turned over fugitives, accused 

 or convicted of crimes in foreign courts, except on the express 

 stipulation of treaty.^^ The only exception to the rule appears to 

 be the case of Arguelles, who was extradited to Spain by President 

 Lincoln in 1864, although no treaty required such action. ^^ The 

 position of the United States has been that " both by the law and 

 practice of nations, without a treaty stipulation, one government is 

 not under any obligation to surrender a fugitive from justice to 

 another government for trial," ^° and that " the President has no 



5* Moore, Digest, 2: no. 

 ^^ Ibid., 2: 112. 



56 Hilton V. Guyot, 159 U. S. 113 (1895) ; Moore, Digest, 2: 217-224. 

 ^"^ Moore, Digest, 2: no; 4: 245 et seq. 

 5* Ibid., 4 : 249. 



^^ Mr. Buchanan, Sec. of State, to Mr. Wise, Sept. 27, 1845, Moore, 

 Digest, 4: 246. 



