Querubin vs Querubin

Facts:
In 1934, Silvestre Querubin, a Filipino, married petitioner
Margaret Querubin, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 'They had a
daughter, Querubina. In 1949, the Superior Court of Los Angeles
granted the divorce on the ground of Margarets infidelity and awarded
"joint custody" of the child.
On March that year, custody was granted to Silvestre under an
interlocutory decree (although the child was still kept in the neutral
home) because at the time of the trial, Margaret was living with
another man. Upon Margaret's petition, the interlocutory decree was
modified. Since she had then married the man she was living with and
had a stable home, the Court granted custody to Margaret with
reasonable limitations on the part of the father.
Silvestre, together with Querubina, left San Francisco on
November of the same year, went to the Philippines and stayed in
Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, with the intent of protecting the child from the
effects of her mother's scandalous conduct.
Ruling:
The decree is by no means final. It is subject to change with the
circumstances. Because the decree is interlocutory, it cannot be implemented in the Philippines. Where the judgment is merely interlocutory,
the determination of the question by the Court that rendered it did not
settle and adjudge finally the rights of the parties.
In the case at bar, the circumstances have changed. Querubina
is not in Los Angeles, she is in Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, under her father's
care. It is a long way from one place to the other. Neither can Margaret
prove that she can pay the cost of passage for the minor. She is not a
packet of cigarettes one can send by mail. Neither can she answer for
Querubina's support, care and education. In comparison, the father has
shown both interest in the child and capacity to provide for the needs
of the child.
Under the Divorce Act No. 2710, the guilty spouse is not entitled
to custody of the minor children. Under the current legislation, morality
and public order it is stated that the child must be outside the care of a
mother who has violated the oath of fidelity to her husband. We
believe that this Court should not enforce the decree of a foreign court
that violates our laws and sound principles of morality that form our
social structure on family relationships.

Cowans vs Ticonderoga Pulp and Paper Company

Facts:
The action is brought to recover on a money judgment which
these plaintiffs recovered in the Province of Quebec, Canada.
The question presented here is whether this Quebec judgment is
in our court (the courts of New York State) merely prima facie proof of
liability, against which any defense which could have been used at the
trial in the Quebec court is available to defeat recovery here, or is it
conclusive, subject only to the recognized exceptions.
Ruling:
The general rule in this State is settled as follows: A judgment
recovered in a foreign country, when sued upon in the courts of this
State, is conclusive so far as to preclude a retrial of the merits of the
case, subject, however, to certain well-recognized exceptions, namely,
where the judgment is tainted with fraud, or with an offense against
the public policy of the State, or the foreign court had not jurisdiction.
Among other things it is said that private rights are acquired
under the foreign judgment; that "the question is one of private rather
than public international law, of private right rather than public
relations;" and "our courts will recognize private rights acquired under
foreign laws and the sufficiency of the evidence establishing such
rights;" the rule, though it had its source in comity, "prevails to-day by
its own strength;" it "rests not on the basis of reciprocity but rather
upon the persuasiveness of the foreign judgment." Of course comity
adds nothing to the strength, worth, or, as Judge POUND call it,
"persuasiveness" of the foreign judgment. The same persuasiveness is
present with or without comity, or with or without reciprocity; and,
without reciprocity, the United States Supreme Court still gives the
foreign judgment recognition.