Preface

• Author: François Larocque
• Profession: University of Ottawa Faculty of Law
• Pages: 17-20

Preface

This

is

a

book

on

the

adjudicative

jurisdiction

of

US,

UK,

and

Canadian

courts

in

transnational

human

rights

proceedings,

that

is,

civil

law



suits

for

extraterritorial

violations

of

international

norms

protecting

the

human

person.

In

the

United

States,

foreign

nationals

have

sought

civil

redress

from

multinational

corporations,

foreign

state

function



aries

and

sovereign

states

through

a

unique

legislative

framework

com



posed

of

the

Alien

Tort

Claims

Act

(ATCA),

the

Torture

Victim

Protection

Act

(TVPA),

and

certain

amendments

to

the

Foreign

Sovereign

Immunities

Act

(FSIA).

On

the

basis

of

these

statutes

and

the

common

law,

US

federal

courts

have

asserted

jurisdiction

over

civil

claims

for

such

extraterri



torial

human

rights

violations

as

torture,

genocide,

and

crimes

against

humanity.

The

question

that

this

book

intends

to

answer

is

whether

UK

and

Canadian

courts

can

do

the

same

in

the

absence

of

US-style

legislation.

The

book

is

largely

based

on

my

doctoral

research

in

law

at

the

University

of

Cambridge.

When

I

applied

to

the

Ph.D.

program

in

Cambridge

in

the

fall

of

2001,

transnational

human

rights

litigation

outside

the

United

States

remained

a

mere

theoretical

possibility.

In

Canada

and

the

United

Kingdom

there

had

been

only

one

case

where

foreign

plaintiffs

had

sought

civil

redress

for

extraterritorial

human

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