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Posts published in April 2013

The US Supreme Court Decides Kiobel: Denies Extraterritoriality for the ATS

On 17 April 2013 the US Supreme Court decided the case KIOBEL, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF HER LATE HUSBAND KIOBEL, ET AL. v. ROYAL DUTCH PETROLEUM CO. ET AL. The full text of the decision is available here. Petitioners, Nigerian nationals residing in the United States, filed suit in federal court under the Alien Tort Statute, alleging that respondents—certain Dutch, British, and Nigerian corporations—aided and  abetted the Nigerian Government in committing violations of the law of nations in Nigeria. The ATS provides that “[t]he district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a…