Hilton v. Guyot
United States Supreme Court
159 U.S. 113 (1895)
Guyot (plaintiff), a French citizen, obtained a judgment against Hilton (defendant), a U.S. citizen, in a French court after a full trial, and then sued in a U.S. circuit court in New York to enforce that French judgment; the circuit court entered judgment for Guyot without reexamining the merits of the underlying French case, and Hilton appealed, arguing the circuit court should have reviewed the merits given that French courts would do the same when enforcing U.S. judgments.
Whether principles of international comity preclude United States courts from examining the merits of an action to enforce a foreign judgment when the foreign country that entered the judgment would itself review the merits in actions to enforce U.S. judgments.