Abstract
On October 1, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court heard the second round of oral arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. on the question of whether and under what circumstances the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) should recognize private causes of action for violations of the law of nations occurring in another sovereign country. This subject attracts intense discussions because the ruling on this matter threatens to affect continued human rights litigation in U.S. courts and corporate liability for human rights abuses occurring abroad. This Article follows the debates surrounding the ATS and ultimately proposes a modest amendment to the statute resolving matters of proper defendants, theories of liability, pleadings, extraterritoriality, the political question doctrine, exhaustion, and enumerates international norms that should be granted as private causes of action under the ATS. In brief, this Article contributes to the foundation for resolving the growing challenges surrounding the ATS and nominates practical solutions to implement the statutes without disturbing the principle of separation of powers, as a variety of courts have already done in the context of the ATS.
Volume
23
Issue
Online
Page
101
Year
2014
Recommended Citation
Marina Pantchenko,
Preserving the Province of the Legislature: A Proposal to Amend the Alien Tort Statute,
23
Minn. J. Int'l L.
101
(2014).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjil/361
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Publication Title
Minnesota Journal of International Law
