In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Kiobel Insta-Symposium: The Impact of Kiobel on FCPA Enforcement

18 Apr

[Mike Koehler is an Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University School of Law and the author of the FCPA Professor website. This contribution is cross-posted on Professor Koehler’s site.] Yesterday, the Supreme Court released its long-awaited opinion in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum. The precise issue before the court was “whether and under what circumstances courts may recognize a cause...

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18 Apr

[Chimène Keitner is Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law.] The Kiobel majority concludes that the plaintiffs in that case impermissibly sought to extend a U.S. cause of action to foreign conduct by foreign companies against foreign victims (even though the victims subsequently became lawful U.S. residents). It dismisses the historical practice of allowing suits for transitory torts (which I have explored in more detail here) by reasoning that the cause of action...

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17 Apr

[John H. Knox is Henry C. Lauerman Professor of International Law at Wake Forest University School of Law] As Anthony Colangelo has already noted, the fundamental difference between the majority and the Breyer concurrence in Kiobel is that the majority opinion applies a presumption against extraterritoriality, and the Breyer concurrence a presumption against extrajurisdictionality.  Kiobel illustrates how stark the difference can be.  The majority’s...

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17 Apr

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...

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17 Apr

[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...

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17 Apr

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...

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17 Apr

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...

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17 Apr

So reports the Kuwait News Agency. The building is expected to be completed in late 2015. Here is the winning design: You can read more about the design, and see more artists renderings, here. It's not a bad design, but it's a bit too high-modernist for my taste. I preferred the one by Wiel Arets Architects & Associates that won third prize...

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