Ex Parte Howitz

Petitioner is in custody under an order of arrest issued in a civil action. The suit is pending in the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco, this state, but it appears from the affidavit upon which the order was made that the cause of action arose at Shanghai, China, and the fraudulent acts set up as warranting the arrest were committed there, and neither of the litigants are citizens or residents of the state of California. For these reasons it is contended that petitioner is not liable to arrest in a civil suit brought in this state.

This contention cannot be sustained. The right to arrest a defendant in a civil action is a part of the remedy accorded the plaintiff. “The form of remedies and the order of judicial proceedings are to be according to the law of the place where the action is instituted, without any regard to the domicile of the parties, the origin of the right, or the country of the act.” (Story on Conflict of Laws, sec. 558.) Again, the same anther, in section 571, lays down the same rule with particular regard to the right of arrest. To the same effect are Claflin v. Frenkel, 29 Hun (N. Y.), 288; Brown v. Ashbrough, 40 How. Pr. (N. Y.) 226; City…