Corporate Civil Liability under ATCA
Author | François Larocque |
Profession | University of Ottawa Faculty of Law |
Pages | 323-329 |
POSTSCRIPT
Corporate
CíVil
Liability
under
ATCA
“
For
those
who
believe
the
Filártiga-Sosa
line
represents
a
meaningful
advance
in
the
protection
of
human
rights,
the
majority
’
s
decision
here
marks
a
very
bad
day.
”
—
Judge
Leval
1
During
the
final
phases
of
this
book
’
s
production,
the
Court
of
Ap
peals
for
the
Second
Circuit
handed
down
a
decision
too
important
to
be
left
out.
Kiobel
v.
Royal
Dutch
Petroleum
is
a
class
action
by
Niger
ian
plaintiffs
against
the
Royal
Dutch
Petroleum
Company
and
the
Shell
Transport
and
Trading
Company
in
which
it
is
alleged
that
the
defendant
corporations,
acting
through
a
Nigerian
subsidiary,
aided
and
abetted
Nigeria
’
s
abusive
suppression
of
environmental
protests
against
development
in
the
Ogoni
region
of
the
Niger
Delta.
The
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
Second
Circuit
granted
the
defendants
’
motion
to
dismiss
for
failing
to
state
an
actionable
claim,
holding
somewhat
sur
prisingly
that
ATCA
does
not
apply
to
corporate
defendants
because
“
corporate
liability
is
not
a
discernable
—
much
less
universally
recog
nized
—
norm
of
customary
international
law.
”
2
The
decision
is
surpris
ing
and
significant
for
several
reasons.
First,
as
a
decision
emanating
from
the
same
court
that
first
rehabilitated
the
200-year-old
ATCA
in
Filártiga
(1982)
and
then
later
expanded
its
application
to
non-state
actors
in
Kadic
(1995),
it
is
likely
to
have
a
significant
impact
on
the
1
Kiobel
v
Royal
Dutch
Petroleum,
2010
U.S.
App.
LEXIS
19382
at
116
(2d
Cir.
2010)
[Kiobel],
2
Ibid,
at
1.
323
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