Search: Kiobel
09 Jul DC Circuit ATS Ruling Sharpens Circuit Split Over Corporate Liability
It’s likely old news to most OJ readers, but we should still note in passing that the DC Circuit, in a divided panel, handed down an important ATS case, John Doe VIII v Exxon Mobil Corp. It is noteworthy, among other things, for straight-out rejecting the Second Circuit’s Kiobel ruling, which held that there is no such thing as corporate liability in the ATS. The DC Circuit panel held otherwise. The circuit split is thus sharpened on an issue that was only glancingly mentioned, and not answered, in the Supreme...17 Apr The Death of Universal Civil Jurisdiction Under the ATS
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 universally proscribable crime (see here for Donald Donovan and Anthea Roberts’ take on this). The Court seemed to take this idea pretty seriously in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain. At least, Justice...19 Apr Weekday News Wrap: Friday, April 19, 2013
If you haven’t been able to keep up with all of our posts on Wednesday’s Kiobel decision, An has a great round-up post here . Don’t forget that unsolicited submissions are still welcome for consideration. In other Kiobel news, ASIL has posted Curtis Bradley’s Insight here (.pdf). A judge in the Guatemalan case against former president Efrain Rios Montt has suspended his genocide trial on procedural grounds. Following briefings on the bleak humanitarian situation in Syria, the Security Council managed to find a consensus on a non-binding statement demanding an...19 May Guest Post: Official Act Immunity – Getting the Answers Right
...the courts – on the other hand, even if it does so, the inconsistency with the Bush administration may undermine the deference accorded the government. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia made exactly that point in the Kiobel oral argument (at 43-45) and the issue is discussed in more detail in my forthcoming article The Supreme Court and the Alien Tort Statute: Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. In any event, the article mentioned above, Pinochet’s Legacy Reassessed, 106 AJIL 731 (2012), analyzes a large number of cases often cited to...27 Oct Book Symposium The Electronic Silk Road: Reply by Anupam Chander
...that “moving from the abstractions of [human rights] instruments to operational rules is … automatic.” Nor do I suggest that “WTO dispute resolution [is] the first place [to] look when considering China’s evolution.” Rather I argue that trade law has the potential to help liberalize not just the movement of goods, but also information. He complains that I don’t cite Kiobel, by which he means the Second Circuit decision in that case (holding that corporations cannot be sued for human rights violations under the Alien Tort Statute), not the Supreme...21 Nov The Ninth Circuit’s Muddled Comity Analysis in Mujica
Last week the Ninth Circuit issued a controversial opinion in Mujica v. Airscan, Inc., that sharply limits the scope of human rights litigation. The claims in Mujica arose in Colombia and allegedly implicate corporate collusion with the Colombian military. Following Kiobel the common consensus was that Alien Tort Statute litigation would be severely curtailed based on the presumption against extraterritoriality. Not surprisingly, the Ninth Circuit rejected the Plaintiffs’ claims, finding that where the only connection to the United States was the Defendants’ nationality, the claims do not “touch and concern”...