Topic: Alien Tort Statute

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Supreme Court puts limits on reach of human rights law

The decision undercuts what had been a growing area of international human rights litigation in US courts. The federal statute allows foreign residents to file civil lawsuits in US courts for violations of international law.
At Supreme Court: Can US courts be venue for human rights cases from abroad?

On Day 1 of its term, the US Supreme Court heard a case involving allegations by 12 Nigerians that a foreign oil firm abetted human rights abuses in Nigeria 20 years ago. Alien Tort Statute, originally aimed at allowing legal action against pirates, lies at heart of the case.
Opinion: Supreme Court case tests US leadership in human rights

Today the Supreme Court will assess whether US courts can hear lawsuits that pertain to events outside the country. If the justices eventually decide 'no,' an important avenue for redress will be closed to foreign victims of human-rights abuses – and America’s beacon will shine less brightly.
As US Supreme Court opens, all eyes on Chief Justice John Roberts

The US Supreme Court opens its 2012-13 term Monday with Justice Anthony Kennedy again the likely swing vote. But given his vote on the Affordable Care Act, Chief Justice John Roberts may not be predictably conservative either.
3 lawyers test human rights cases from abroad in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court will hear a case Monday which could determine whether cases involving foreign governments committing atrocities in their own countries should be heard in the US court system.
Can foreigners sue international corporations in US courts?

A 223-year-old law says foreigners can file lawsuits in American courts for alleged violations of international law. But whether they can sue corporations remains a question for the Supreme Court.
Seeking justice for victims across borders

The nonprofit group CJA tracks down those who commit crimes in one country and flee to another – and hauls them into court.
Supreme Court declines to take up Abu Ghraib detainee lawsuit

The Supreme Court declined without comment the case of 250 former Abu Ghraib detainees whose lawsuit against private contractors, for allegedly abusing and torturing Abu Ghraib inmates, had been thrown out of federal court.
Guatemalans sue US for deliberately spreading illness in 1940s experiment

A lawsuit was filed Monday in a US district court on behalf of 700 Guatemalan soldiers, mental health patients, and orphans secretly experimented on from 1946 to 1948.
Supreme Court allows drug test case against Pfizer to proceed

US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer allegedly conducted nonconsensual drug tests on 200 Nigerian children, some of whom died. The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed a civil lawsuit against Pfizer to go forward.
Cheers in Nigeria after Shell agrees to pay $15.5 million

Despite the settlement, the oil firm denies complicity in the former military government's execution of antidrilling activists in the mid-1990s. Activists say the case is 'an important first step' toward justice in the region.
US case highlights Cuban 'slaves' in Curaçao

A federal judge in Miami last month ordered a shipping firm to pay $80 million for conspiring with Cuba to abuse workers.
Wal-Mart greening its jewelry?

Wal-Mart is rolling out a new line of gold and silver jewelry that they say can can be traced from the mine to the store.
U.S. high court allows apartheid claims against multinationals

The suit argues that by doing business with South Africa, the companies abetted the racist former regime.
Olympic torch rallying China's critics

For some years, China's boom and the war on terror have overridden human rights concerns.