Author: Adam Lurie

Supreme Court Rules That Non-U.S. Corporations May Not Be Sued Under Alien Tort Statute

In a significant decision for multinational corporations, the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to find non-U.S. corporations liable under the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), holding that an expansion of a law with serious foreign policy consequences should be made by Congress, not the judiciary. Five Justices agreed to the conclusion that non-U.S. corporations may not be defendants in suits brought under the ATS.[1] The ATS provides the U.S. district courts with “original jurisdiction of any ci