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

Constitutionality of TVPA Challenged in First Circuit

By William S. Dodge

October 23, 2024 posted in: Human Rights Litigation

As previously reported at TLB, a Massachusetts jury last year awarded $15.5 million in damages against Jean Morose Viliena for torture and extrajudicial killing under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). Viliena was mayor of a town in Haiti where the three plaintiffs lived. The jury found him responsible for murdering the brother of one…

U.S. and Foreign Litigation Relating to the Events in Gaza

By Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

October 15, 2024 posted in: Human Rights Litigation

High profile cases against Israel and Germany have been bought before the International Court of Justice, alleging violations of international law with respect to events in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking five warrants of arrest against Israelis and Hamas leaders for war…

Transnational Litigation at the Supreme Court, October Term 2024

By William S. Dodge

October 7, 2024 posted in: Supreme Court

Today is the first day of the Supreme Court’s October Term. This post briefly discusses four transnational litigation cases in which the Court has already granted cert, as well as several others that are in the pipeline and could be decided this Term. Readers can also consult our Supreme Court page. Cases in which the…

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)