The Alien Tort Statute Revisited

The Supreme Court will rehear argument on Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum.  The arguments last week focused on the issue of whether a corporation could be held liable under international law.  I summarized the lower court's ruling in that case in previous blog post.  During the oral arguments it was clear that a couple of justices, namely Justice Alito, were more interested in considering whether the law's extraterritoriality was constitutional than whether a corporation could be held liable under international law.  It seems that the rationale for the statute when it was passed was to provide a remedy for aliens, usually ambassadors, who were the victims of tortuous activity within the United States. 

News Stories:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-05/corporate-human-rights-case-expanded-by-u-s-supreme-court.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/05/supreme-court-corporate-human-rights-kiobel-royal-dutch-petroleum_n_1322007.html

Oral Argument Transcript 02/28/2012:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/10-1491.pdf

s/ Kurt Koehler
308 1/2 S. State Street Suite 36
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48198
(Washtenaw County)