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In win for Shell, U.S. top court curbs human rights claims
Source: Reuters
In win for Shell, U.S. top court curbs human rights claims
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON | Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:37pm EDT
(Reuters) - In a major victory for multinational companies, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday limited the ability of human rights plaintiffs to invoke a 224-year-old federal law when suing companies over alleged collusion with violent foreign governments.
The nine justices ruled unanimously that a federal court in New York could not hear claims made by 12 Nigerians who accused Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc of complicity in a violent crackdown on protesters in Nigeria from 1992 to 1995.
The ruling immediately sparked another debate, not least in concurring opinions written by justices in response to Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion, about exactly what claims can still be made under the Alien Tort Statute. The 1789 law had been dormant for nearly two centuries before lawyers began using it in the 1980s to bring international human rights cases in U.S. courts.
What is clear is that the ruling is a major win for multi-nationals such as Royal Dutch that do business in the developing world and become embroiled in local political controversies.
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By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON | Wed Apr 17, 2013 6:37pm EDT
(Reuters) - In a major victory for multinational companies, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday limited the ability of human rights plaintiffs to invoke a 224-year-old federal law when suing companies over alleged collusion with violent foreign governments.
The nine justices ruled unanimously that a federal court in New York could not hear claims made by 12 Nigerians who accused Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc of complicity in a violent crackdown on protesters in Nigeria from 1992 to 1995.
The ruling immediately sparked another debate, not least in concurring opinions written by justices in response to Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion, about exactly what claims can still be made under the Alien Tort Statute. The 1789 law had been dormant for nearly two centuries before lawyers began using it in the 1980s to bring international human rights cases in U.S. courts.
What is clear is that the ruling is a major win for multi-nationals such as Royal Dutch that do business in the developing world and become embroiled in local political controversies.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-usa-court-rights-idUSBRE93G11I20130417
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