[Thomas H. Lee is the Leitner Family Professor of Law at Fordham Law School and a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School in 2012-13.] Based on my quick read through the opinions, it seems that it’s a win for corporations and a loss for international human rights groups seeking to use the US federal district courts to vindicate claims of...
We have invited several academic luminaries to post here at Opinio Juris over the next few days about the Supreme Court's decision in Kiobel. We also are going to try something new and invite young academics to submit guests posts for possible publication. We can't guarantee we will publish every post submitted, but we would love to broaden the discussion...
One idea that Kiobel has put to rest (at least here in US courts) is the idea that the ATS could be fairly read as a grant of universal civil jurisdiction. On this theory, the ATS could be applied to overseas activities if the nature of the alleged action was so heinous as to rise to the level of a...
This is a tough loss for the human rights advocacy community, ending an era that began with the Second Circuit's rediscovery of the Alien Tort Statute in its 1980 decision in Filartiga v. Pena. As Julian highlights below, Justice Kennedy may have left the door ajar to future claims, but only barely. Even Breyer's concurrence -- the rejection of the...
[Apologies for all the random short posts, I think what make blogging interesting, sometimes, is that one can think out loud online. Dangerous, I know, but fun too!] Here is one quick take: As Deborah noted below, the Supreme Court voted 9-0 that the Kiobel plaintiffs should be dismissed because their claims against a foreign corporation for actions in a foreign...
Interestingly, the four liberal justices would have also dismissed the Kiobel plaintiffs on a different theory: that this case (involving actions by a foreign corporation against foreign plaintiffs in a foreign sovereign's territory) does not "substantially or adversely affect an important American national interest...
Would've been helpful if he'd said a wee bit more. For now, we'll have to comb through the majority opinion in search of the questions he has in mind. In the meantime, worth noting the Court was 9-0 in affirming the Second Circuit's decision to dismiss the ATS complaint in this case. JUSTICE KENNEDY, concurring. The opinion for the Court is careful...
It is worth noting that Justice Kennedy offered a very short concurrence. Here is the complete text of his concurrence, which should hearten ATS supporters that there is some room for future extraterritorial ATS cases (a very small room, I guess). The opinion for the Court is careful to leave open a number of significant questions regarding the reach and interpretation...
Here is the bottom line of the Roberts' opinion, which makes it sound like this whole ATS thing is really a simple application of Morrison v. National Australia Bank. On these facts, all the relevant conduct took place outside the United States. And even where the claims touch and concern the territory of the United States, they must do so with...
(UPDATE: Whoops, Ken beat me to the punch. Still, look here for more comments soon.) Here is the opinion. I am just going through it now, but it looks like the ATS is going to be severely restricted on territoriality grounds for the near future. More from all of us later on today....
The US Supreme Court released its long-awaited Kiobel decision this morning, affirming the Second Circuit's dismissal of the plaintiffs Alien Tort Statute claims. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion, joined by Justices Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy. Justice Kennedy wrote a separate concurrence; Justice Alito did likewise, joined by Justice Thomas. Justice Breyer concurred in the judgment, joined by Justices...
Yesterday, the ICJ reached its judgment in the frontier dispute between Burkina Faso and Niger. The BBC has more here. According to a bipartisan report by the Constitution Project (.pdf), the US has engaged in torture at the highest levels. Human Rights Watch also offers a statement here. The New Zealand parliament has passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Privacy International has sued the United...
