Search: extraterritorial sanctions
10 May Kiobel Insta-Symposium: Kiobel Contradicts Morrison
only, committed in violation of the law of nations.” If the ATS does not sufficiently indicate extraterritorial application, certainly neither does § 78aa. And if the district court in Morrison “had jurisdiction under 15 U.S.C. § 78aa” over claims involving extraterritorial activity—as the Supreme Court explicitly said it did—then the district court in Kiobel also should have “had jurisdiction under [the ATS]” over claims involving extraterritorial activity. Having decided, correctly in my view, that the conduct-regulating rule under the ATS comes from international law, the Court essentially painted itself into...
24 Jun Unilateral Regulation Without Mirror Clauses? The Limits of the EU’s Brussels Effect in the EU–Mercosur Agreement
...now widely regarded as obsolete, as extraterritorial jurisdiction appears antinomic within a Westphalian international order essentially built on territorial sovereignty. The upshot, for present purposes, is that directly regulating production practices within Mercosur territory would expose the EU to significant legal and diplomatic friction. Notwithstanding international law’s prohibitive tendencies toward extraterritorial jurisdiction, the Union has developed alternative means of influencing actors operating overseas, colloquially known as the “Brussels Effect.” The term, coined by Prof. Anu Bradford, describes the EU’s capacity to externalise its regulatory standards beyond its borders through market-access...16 Oct The Risk of Using Domestic Law to Solve Transboundary Harm
– may well cause Canadians to rethink their reluctance to extraterritorially apply their own laws. But to my mind, extraterritorial lawsuits (i.e. transnational litigations) are problematic. In some ways, recent international legal scholarship has encouraged these suits. Sovereigntist/revisionist scholars have pushed internationalists to turn domestically with their sustained attack against international, multilateral instruments as a threat to American democratic sovereignty. On the other hand, internationalists have also turned away from traditional sources of international law and multilateralism, believing the traditional view that international lawmaking should be the sole business of...03 Nov Salvaging the Charming Betsy in ATS Cases: A Response to Rio Tinto
...essential to the federal courts having a constitutional basis for exercising jurisdiction over it. The court then held, The norms being applied under the ATS are international, not domestic, ones, derived from international law. As a result, the primary considerations underlying the presumption against extraterritoriality—the foreign relations difficulties and intrusions into the sovereignty of other nations likely to arise if we claim the authority to require persons in other countries to obey our laws—do not come into play. This is because, Judge Kleinfeld’s contention notwithstanding, we are not asserting an...22 Apr Kiobel Insta-Symposium: Degrees of Territoriality
United States. “Extraterritorial Territory.” In some ATS cases, it is alleged that the unlawful conduct occurs abroad, but there is nonetheless a territorial nexus to the United States. Examples include conduct that occurs on U.S. territories, within U.S. embassies and consulates, on U.S. military bases located overseas, or on U.S.-flagged vessels or airlines. Obviously, not all of these activities will touch and concern the United States with sufficient force to displace the presumption against extraterritoriality. But these are the kinds of questions that will be the subject of future litigation....25 Nov Stewart Mini-Symposium: From the ATS to Corporate Criminality under ICL — Mind the Gap
...very problem that Kiobel addressed, i.e., the extraterritorial reach of domestic law. While international crimes are subject to universal jurisdiction, universal jurisdiction is still only permissive and not mandatory. The duty, if there is one, for states to punish all international crimes (e.g., as suggested in the preamble to the ICC Statute) is a very weak one; the only clear duties are those in specific treaties like the Torture or Disappearances Conventions. So why assume that states will pass criminal statutes (even covering obvious international crimes) covering conduct by their...05 May Jus Post Bellum Symposium: What’s in a Name? The Great Definitional Debate over Jus Post Bellum
...principled deviation from peacetime standards. A final reflection on the scope of jus post bellum comes from a related body of work I am engaged in on UN sanctions. In assessing the Security Council’s peacebuilding activities through the guise of sanctions, I have been struck by the extent to which the Security Council is an important player in the jus post bellum field. Although the Council’s actions are discretionary, sometimes inconsistent, and are not applied in a regular way to like-cases, the Council has, nonetheless, been involved in some way,...
20 Feb Assessing Syria’s Progress Since Assad
...a 2025 World Bank report, Syria’s economy has been severely damaged by 14 years of conflict and international sanctions, with GDP shrinking by more than 50 percent since 2010. Around 16.5 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance, and nearly 90 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, while about 60 percent suffers from food insecurity. Reconstruction costs are estimated at approximately $216 billion, nearly ten times Syria’s current annual GDP. The most notable positive impact on economic prospects was the gradual lifting of U.S. sanctions. In May 2025, Donald...