Alien Tort Statute

Transnational Litigation at the Supreme Court, October Term 2024

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…

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Ninth Circuit Denies Rehearing in Doe v. Cisco Systems

On September 3, 2024, the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc in Doe v. Cisco Systems. The panel had held that Chinese practitioners of Falun Gong could sue Cisco, a U.S. company, for aiding and abetting human rights violations by building a surveillance system for the People’s Republic of China. Judge Patrick Bumatay (joined by…

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D.C. Circuit Revives Case by Former Saudi Official with Ties to U.S. Intelligence

Saudi Arabian Flag Next to U.S. Flag.

Dr. Saad Aljabri, a former Saudi official who lives in Canada, sued Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (“MBS”) and other defendants, alleging that they tracked him down and tried to kill him because of his relationship to the United States and to the former Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.  As covered at TLB, federal district…

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Victims of Hamas sue UNRWA

Victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas have sued UNRWA USA, a Delaware non-profit that provides aid for Palestinians in Gaza. The case is one of several involving the war in Gaza, including one filed by residents of Gaza against the Biden administration and one brought by victims of Hamas against the National…

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Throwback Thursday: Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain

On June 29, 2004, two decades ago, the Supreme Court decided Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, recognizing an implied cause of action under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) for violations of human rights norms that are generally accepted and specifically defined. In this post, I look back at Sosa and discuss what has happened in ATS litigation during…

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Chiquita Liable for Financing Colombian Paramilitary Death Squads

In a win for international human rights advocacy, a Florida jury has found a U.S. corporation liable for human rights violations committed in a foreign country. This first of three “bellwether” trials involved nine cases. Hundreds remain to be tried in this multidistrict litigation. The jury’s verdict is the latest development in a civil case…

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Residents of Gaza Sue President Biden

Israeli tank protecting a settlement in the Jordan Valley, West Bank

The Ninth Circuit is considering a case designed to force the Biden administration to “take all measures within their power to exert influence over Israel to end its bombing of the Palestinian people of Gaza.” Oral argument is scheduled for June 9, 2024. Allegations The plaintiffs are several NGOs, individual Palestinian residents of Gaza, and…

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Victims of Hamas Bring Suit Related to Campus Protests

Victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas have sued two U.S. organizations for violating of Anti-Terrorism Act and the Alien Tort Statute. The nine plaintiffs – U.S. and Israeli citizens – allege that defendants serve as a “propaganda machine,” one that intimidates and recruits “impressionable college students to serve as foot soldiers for…

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Transnational Corporate Accountability Through American Corporate Law

To those who view the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) as a beacon of American justice for foreign victims of corporate misconduct, the landscape looks bleak. In the latest ATS case decided in 2021, the Supreme Court held in Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe that plaintiffs, who were allegedly trafficked as children to engage in slave…

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Ninth Circuit Allows Human Rights Claims Against Cisco to Proceed

There may yet be life in the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). The Ninth Circuit recently held, in Doe I v. Cisco Systems, Inc., that Chinese practitioners of Falun Gong could go forward with claims of aiding and abetting human rights violations against Cisco Systems, which designed and built a surveillance system for the People’s Republic…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.wuerth@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Zachary D. Clopton

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
zclopton@law.northwestern.eduEmail

Noah Buyon

Duke University School of Law
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Naman Karl-Thomas Habtom

University of Cambridge
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Ben Köhler

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
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Melissa Stewart

University of Hawai'i, William S. Richardson School of Law.
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Ian M. Kysel

Cornell Law School
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Craig D. Gaver

Bluestone Law
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Gregg Cashmark

Vanderbilt Law School
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Rochelle C. Dreyfuss

NYU School of Law
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Linda J. Silberman

New York University School of Law
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Timothy R. Holbrook

Emory University School of Law
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