(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court, back in session today after its summer recess, is expected to take up a closely watched case that could help it decide whether American judges are empowered to hear lawsuits over human rights atrocities abroad.
The nine justices will review the reach of the Alien Tort Statute, an obscure 1789 law that was revived in the 1980s by attorneys pursuing international human rights cases.
In the past two decades more than 150 Alien Tort Statute lawsuits, accusing U.S. and foreign corporations of wrongdoing in more than 60 foreign countries, have been filed in U.S. courts, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Last February, during the first oral arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, some of the court’s conservative justices signaled a willingness to shield corporations from liability…..
Categories: Americas, Constitution, Human Rights, United States