Law Commons^™

Jesner V. Arab Bank, Rebecca Hamilton

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The exclusion of transnational human rights litigation from U.S. federal courts is, for most practical purposes, now complete. On April 24, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a 5–4 ruling in Jesner v. Arab Bank, deciding that foreign corporations cannot be sued under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS).

Through Our Glass Darkly: Does Comparative Law Counsel The Use Of Foreign Law In U.S. Constitutional Adjudication?, Kenneth Anderson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This (35 pp.) essay appears as a contribution to a law review symposium on the work of Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon in comparative law. The essay begins by asking what comparative law as a scholarly discipline might suggest about the use of foreign (or unratified or nationally "unaccepted" international law) by US courts in US constitutional adjudication. The trend seemed to be gathering steam in US courts between the early-1990s and mid-2000s, but by the late-2000s, it appeared to be stalled as a practice, notwithstanding the intense scholarly interest throughout this period.

Practical politics within the US …

Kiobel V. Royal Dutch Petroleum: The Alien Tort Statute's Jurisdictional Universalism In Retreat, Kenneth Anderson

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (Shell), a long-running Alien Tort Statute (ATS) case brought by Nigerian plaintiffs alleging aiding and abetting liability against various multinational oil companies for human rights violations of the Nigerian government in the 1990s, including a non-US Shell corporation, first came before the US Supreme Court in the 2011-2012 term, following a sweeping Second Circuit holding that there was no "liability for corporations" under the ATS. In oral argument, however, several Justices asked a different question from corporate liability: noting that the case involved foreign plaintiffs, foreign defendants, and conduct taking place entirely on foreign sovereign …

Corporate Liability Under The Alien Tort Statute: Federal Common Law As The Standard For Third Party Liability, Alexandra Bradley

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Settling A Corporate Accountability Lawsuit Without Sacrificing Human Rights: Wang Xiaoning V. Yahoo!, Theresa Harris

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Reply Declaration On Issues Of International Law, Laws Of War, Corporate Liability In International Law In Agent Orange Ats Litigation, Kenneth Anderson

Congressional and Other Testimony

This reply declaration elaborates the November 2, 2004 declaration on behalf of corporate defendants by Kenneth Anderson in the Agent Orange product liability ATS case heard before Judge Jack B. Weinstein. I have posted the declaration and this reply declaration to SSRN because of frequent requests for them from academics and because the declaration has been cited in scholarship.The reply declaration addresses the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War and the claim that its use in that period violated the laws of armed conflict. It discusses treaty and customary law of poison and poisoned weapons, issues of proportionality …

Declaration On Issues Of The Laws Of War, Corporate Liability And Other Issues Of International Law In Agent Orange Ats Litigation, Kenneth Anderson

Congressional and Other Testimony

This 2004 expert declaration was offered on behalf of defendant corporations in Agent Orange litigation heard before Judge Jack Weinstein in 2005 as part of an Alien Tort Statute action by Vietnamese individuals and associations. I have posted it to SSRN because of the numerous requests I have had for it, and as it has been cited in scholarship.The Declaration starts by offering a basic discussion of the sources of international and in particular customary international law and the meaning and role of opinio juris, and their relation to ATS cases following the Sosa case. It then addresses laws of …