Clifford Chance
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments About Corporate Liability Under the Alien Tort Statute and the Torture Victim Protection Act
5 March 2012
On February 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. and Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, two much-anticipated cases in which the Court will consider whether corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for alleged complicity in human rights violations committed abroad. The statutes at issue are the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), a 223-year-old law that permits non-U.S. citizens to bring civil lawsuits in U.S. courts for violations of the law of nations, and its contemporary counterpart, the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”), which creates a private right of action for U.S. and non-U.S. citizens for torture and extrajudicial killing committed by “[a]n individual” acting under color of foreign law. 28 U.S.C. § 1350 & note.
