Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum: After the Rehearing (Oct. 15, 2012)
The Northwestern University Human Rights Project (NUHRP) hosted a conversation about Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, which was reheard by the Supreme Court on October 1st. The plaintiffs in Kiobel have claimed that a Dutch company, the Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., a UK company, Shell Transport and Trading Company PLC, and its wholly owned subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, LTD aided and abetted the Nigerian government in committing violations of the law of nations, among them torture, extrajudicial killing, and crimes against humanity. The plaintiffs filed suit for civil damages under the Alien Tort Statute (28 USC 1350).
In addition to the question of whether or not corporate defendants can be subjected to civil liability for human rights violations, the recent reargument focused on extraterritorial application of the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreign citizens to bring suits in U.S. courts for violations of the law of nations occurring within the territory of a sovereign other than the U.S. Professors David Scheffer and Caroline Kaeb spoke about the case, its implications, and the arguments presented at the rehearing. Professor Scheffer filed an amicus brief in the case and was present for the re-argument, along with a group of NU students, and Professor Kaeb is currently teaching a course on corporate compliance and social mandates. Additional background on the case can be found at http://www.scotusblog.com/2012/09/kiobel-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-whats-at-stake-and-for-whom/ andhttp://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2011/2011_10_1491 (w/ audio from the rehearing). |