Re Lavarello

• Jurisdicción: Argentina
• Número de expediente: Case No. 174
• Fecha: 03 Octubre 1924
• Emisor: Federal Court of Appeals (Argentina)

Argentina, Second Civil Chamber of the Capital.

Case No. 174

In re Lavarello.

Consuls — Functions of — Proof of Foreign Law.

The Facts.—This was a case of a holograph will recorded in Italy. The informe of the Italian consul stated that it was drawn up according to the laws of Italy. The lower Court held that the consular informe was sufficient proof of the Italian law.

Held: That the judgment must be reversed, since this was not proper proof of foreign law. The Court followed the opinion of its fiscal, who said that the case of Rigault had “settled the doctrine that the personal opinion of the consul of a foreign nation, expressed in writing, without the transcription and certification of the pertinent laws or legal provisions, cannot be admitted as sufficient proof of the existence of the foreign laws which are invoked. And later, in In re Dietz v. von Schmitz, it had been declared that the informe of a legation showing that a certificate of civil status was sufficient to prove filiation, was not enough proof. … The Argentine judges, to apply foreign law, ought to know it and to interpret it for themselves and not by proxy; in this case, they do not know the law, but the opinion of the foreign minister, on the evidential value of a certificate, and that is not enough.” He also pointed out that the fiscal, in In re Frage A. su suc., had shown that the informe must contain the legal texts...