Calvo, Carlos
Carlos Calvo (kär´lōs käl´vō), 1824–1906, Argentine diplomat and historian. He spent much of his life in diplomatic service abroad. He edited a collection of Latin American treaties and did other historical work but was most important as a writer on international law. Although he was influenced by Henry Wheaton, his development of international doctrines broke new paths. His best-known work is Derecho internacional teórico y práctico de Europa y América (Paris, 1868; greatly expanded in subsequent editions, which were published in French). In this book he expressed the principle known as the Calvo Doctrine, which would prohibit the use of diplomatic intervention as a method of enforcing private claims before local remedies have been exhausted. It is wider in scope than the Drago Doctrine (see under Drago, Luis María), which grew out of it. The Calvo Clause, found in constitutions, treaties, statutes, and contracts, is the concrete application of the doctrine. Used chiefly in concession contracts, the clause attempts to give local courts final jurisdiction and to obviate any appeal to diplomatic intervention.