Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.

Nigerian nationals, having been granted asylum in the U.S., filed suit under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), alleging that Dutch, British, and Nigerian corporations aided and abetted the Nigerian Government in committing violations of the law of nations in Nigeria. The complaint alleges that in the 1990s Nigerian government forces attacked villages, beating, raping, killing, and arresting residents and destroying or looting property and that the corporations provided food, transportation, compensation, and a staging ground. The ATS provides that “district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States,” 28 U. S. C. 1350. On interlocutory appeal, the Second Circuit dismissed, holding that the law of nations does not recognize corporate liability. The Supreme Court affirmed. The presumption against extraterritoriality applies to ATS claims. The danger of unwarranted judicial interference in foreign policy is magnified where the question is not what Congress has done but what courts may do. Nothing in the ATS indicates extraterritorial reach. Violations of the law of nations affecting aliens can occur either within or outside the United States. The question is whether the court has authority to recognize a cause of action under U. S. law to enforce a norm of international law. There is no indication that Congress expected causes of action to be brought under the statute for violations of the law of nations occurring abroad. View "Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co." on Justia Law