Clifford Chance

2013 Review: US Federal Courts Address Jurisdiction Over Cases Involving Alleged Human Rights Abuses Committed Abroad

8 January 2014

The US Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. limiting the extraterritorial reach of the Alien Tort Statute ("ATS") dominated the year's news for human rights litigation.  In 2014, plaintiffs and defendants will continue to fight in the lower courts to define the scope of the Supreme Court's ruling.  In the meantime, a pending Supreme Court decision promises to further address the extraterritorial reach of US law.

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