McDonald v. Mallory

In McDonald v. Mallory, 77 NY 546, 551, 7 Abb. N. Cas. 84 (1879), the Court of Appeals stated that "actions for injuries to the person committed abroad are sustained . . . upon the presumption that the right to compensation for such injuries is recognized by laws of all countries," i.e., the common law. The Court of Appeals contrasted the common law with statutory law, stating that the "presumption cannot apply where the wrong complained of is not one of those thus universally recognized as a ground of action, but is one for which redress is given only by statute." (McDonald, 77 NY at 551.)