811.04551/24
The Ambassador in France (Herrick) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s telegram No. 109 dated April 30th, 6 p.m. and to previous correspondence regarding the desirability of concluding with the French Government a convention providing for the execution of letters rogatory in civil cases.
Previous to April 1, 1926, M. Pillaut, who then occupied himself in the Foreign Office with questions of this nature, undertook to draft a text of a convention which might meet the views of both Governments. Subsequently there occurred a number of changes in the Foreign Office and M. Pillaut was assigned to another department. The draft he previously prepared does not appear to have been acted upon and M. Viefville, who succeeded M. Pillaut, now states that a convention would be rendered ineffective by the contradictory reservations which would have to be incorporated in order to satisfy existing French law. This explains the apparently sudden change of attitude toward the conclusion of a convention of the nature suggested by the Department. Moreover, it was stated that persons could not be obliged to give testimony even though they be called before a competent judicial authority. Consequently, a convention providing for the execution of letters rogatory could not be made any more effective than the existing practice of transmitting letters rogatory through the diplomatic channel for examination in the usual way.
It was further stated that special clauses would necessarily be inserted in any convention such as that contemplated by the Department, [Page 121] expressly excepting the execution of letters rogatory in all cases in which there appeared to be a political aspect or in which was concerned a person in political life.
However, there is now transmitted herewith, for the Department’s information, a copy of a convention which was concluded on February 2, 1922 between the Governments of France and Great Britain.43 Today at the Foreign Office MM. Pillaut and Viefville stated that it was possible that a somewhat similar convention might be concluded between the United States and France.
I have [etc.]
- For text of convention, see British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cxvi, p. 452.↩