Respectful Consideration, but Not Deference: Chinese Sovereign Amici in the US Supreme Court Vitamin C Judgment

Abstract

In the first lawsuit in the U.S. history, the Vitamin C witnesses the Chinese government’s intervention to take a position as amicus curiae. • It is also for the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court has articulated a “respectful consideration” test that lower courts should use in the application of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 44.1 while dealing with foreign sovereign’s interpretation of their own law. • The implications of the Supreme Court’s decision reach well beyond the confines of antitrust doctrine. In an era of increasing globalisation, the case sets the ground rules for a broad range of cross-border disputes.