Human Rights Litigation

Victims of human rights violations sometimes bring claims in U.S. courts, including claims based on violations outside the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a limited cause of action for human rights claims under the Alien Tort Statute. Congress has also enacted statutory causes of action such as the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) and the Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Human rights claims against individuals often raise questions of foreign official immunity.

A Primer on Human Rights Litigation

By William S. Dodge

June 22, 2022 posted in: Human Rights Litigation

Modern human rights law developed in response to the events of the World War II, although it has earlier precursors. In 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a non-binding declaration. More than seventy human rights treaties followed, including the Genocide Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,…

Recent Posts

Fallout from Cisco in Human Rights Cases, Part II: Cisco on Remand

By William S. Dodge

September 10, 2026 posted in: Human Rights Litigation

It is no surprise that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe (2026), which closed the door on modern human rights claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), is impacting cases in the lower courts. Yesterday, I discussed the impact on Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology, Inc., where the Fourth…

Fallout from Cisco in Human Rights Cases, Part I: Al Shimari

By William S. Dodge

September 9, 2026 posted in: Human Rights Litigation

As regular readers know, last June the U.S. Supreme Court closed the door on modern human rights claims under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), holding in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe (2026) that the ATS’s implied cause of action does not cover such claims. In two posts, today and tomorrow, I consider recent lower-court developments…

Fourth Circuit Reaffirms Lack of Official Immunity for Jus Cogens Violations

By William S. Dodge

July 23, 2026 posted in: Foreign Official Immunity

On July 8, 2026, the Fourth Circuit held in Kuiper v. Reyes Mena that a former colonel in the Salvadoran Army is not immune from suit for the extrajudicial killings of Dutch journalists in 1982 during El Salvador’s civil war. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Paul V. Neimeyer reaffirmed the circuit’s holding in Yousuf…

Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350

Torture Victim Protection Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (note)

Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1595

Nestle USA, Inc. v. Doe (2021)

Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC (2018)

Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (2013)

Mohamad v. Palestinian Auth. (2012)

Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain (2004)

Oona A. Hathaway, Christopher Ewell & Ellen Nohle, Has the Alien Tort Statute Made a Difference? A Historical, Empirical, and Normative Assessment, 107 Cornell L. Rev. (forthcoming 2022) (SSRN)

Pierre-Hugues Verdier & Paul B. Stephan, International Human Rights and Multinational Corporations: An FCPA Approach, 101 B.U. L. Rev. 1359 (2021) (SSRN)

Sara Sun Beale, The Trafficking Victim Protection Act: The Best Hope for International Human Rights Litigation in U.S. Courts?, 50 Case W. Res. J. Int’l L. 17 (2018) (Duke)

David Nersessian, International Human Rights Litigation: A Guide for Judges (Federal Judicial Center, 2016) (FJC)

William S. Dodge, Alien Tort Litigation: The Road Not Taken, 89 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1577 (2014) (SSRN)

Thomas H. Lee, The Three Lives of the Alien Tort Statute: The Evolving Role of the Judiciary in U.S. Foreign Relations, 89 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1645 (2014) (SSRN)

Beth Stephens, The Curious History of the Alien Tort Statute, 89 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1467 (2014) (SSRN)

Paul Hoffman & Beth Stephens, International Human Rights Cases Under State Law and in State Courts, 3 UC Irvine L. Rev. 9 (2013) (SSRN)

Anthony J. Bellia, Jr. & Bradford R. Clark, The Alien Tort Statute and the Law of Nations, 78 U. Chi. L. Rev. 445 (2011) (SSRN)

Chimène I. Keitner, Conceptualizing Complicity in Alien Tort Cases, 60 Hastings L.J. 61 (2008) (SSRN)

Curtis A. Bradley, Jack L. Goldsmith & David H. Moore, Sosa, Customary International Law, and the Continuing Relevance of Erie, 120 Harv. L. Rev. 869 (2007) (Duke)

Thomas H. Lee, The Safe-Conduct Theory of the Alien Tort Statute, 106 Colum. L. Rev. 830 (2006) (SSRN)

Beth Stephens, Translating Filártiga: A Comparative and International Law Analysis of Domestic Remedies for International Human Rights Violations, 27 Yale J. Intl. L. 1 (2002) (SSRN)

Curtis A. Bradley & Jack L. Goldsmith, III, The Current Illegitimacy of International Human Rights Litigation, 66 Fordham L. Rev. 319 (1997) (Fordham)

William S. Dodge, The Historical Origins of the Alien Tort Statute: A Response to the "Originalists", 19 Hastings Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 221 (1996) (SSRN)