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Alien Tort Statute
The Alien Tort Statute (codified into positive law in 1948 as 28 U.S.C. § 1350; ATS), also called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), is a section in the United States Code that gives federal courts jurisdiction over lawsuits filed by foreign nationals for torts committed in violation of international law. It was first introduced by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and is one of the oldest federal laws still in effect in the U.S.
The ATS was rarely cited for nearly two centuries after its enactment, and its exact purpose and scope remain debated. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Act's primary purpose as "[promoting] harmony in international relations by ensuring foreign plaintiffs a remedy for international-law violations in circumstances where the absence of such a remedy might provoke foreign nations to hold the United States accountable."
Since 1980, courts have generally interpreted the ATS to allow foreign nationals to seek remedies in U.S. courts for human rights violations committed outside the United States, provided there is a sufficient connection to the United States. Both case law and jurisprudence differ on what characterizes a sufficient U.S. connection, particularly with respect to corporate entities.
The statute reads as follows:
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.
The ATS was part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was passed by the First U.S. Congress to establish the federal court system. There is little surviving legislative history regarding the Act, and its original meaning and purpose are uncertain. Scholars have surmised that it was intended to assure foreign governments that the U.S. would seek to prevent and remedy breaches of customary international law, especially breaches concerning diplomats and merchants.
The ATS may have been enacted in response to a number of international incidents caused by the unavailability of remedies for foreign citizens in the U.S. The peace treaty ending the American Revolutionary War provided for the satisfaction of debts to British creditors, but several states refused to enforce the payment of such debts, prompting threats of retaliation by Great Britain. In 1784, French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois was assaulted in Philadelphia, but no legal remedy was available to him, as any prosecution was left to the discretion of local authorities. The incident was notorious internationally and prompted Congress to draft a resolution asking states to allow suits in tort for the violation of the law of nations; few states enacted such a provision, and Congress subsequently included the ATS in the Judiciary Act of 1789.
However, until 1980 the ATS remained largely dormant, being invoked in only two reported court decisions.
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Alien Tort Statute
The Alien Tort Statute (codified into positive law in 1948 as 28 U.S.C. § 1350; ATS), also called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), is a section in the United States Code that gives federal courts jurisdiction over lawsuits filed by foreign nationals for torts committed in violation of international law. It was first introduced by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and is one of the oldest federal laws still in effect in the U.S.
The ATS was rarely cited for nearly two centuries after its enactment, and its exact purpose and scope remain debated. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Act's primary purpose as "[promoting] harmony in international relations by ensuring foreign plaintiffs a remedy for international-law violations in circumstances where the absence of such a remedy might provoke foreign nations to hold the United States accountable."
Since 1980, courts have generally interpreted the ATS to allow foreign nationals to seek remedies in U.S. courts for human rights violations committed outside the United States, provided there is a sufficient connection to the United States. Both case law and jurisprudence differ on what characterizes a sufficient U.S. connection, particularly with respect to corporate entities.
The statute reads as follows:
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.
The ATS was part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was passed by the First U.S. Congress to establish the federal court system. There is little surviving legislative history regarding the Act, and its original meaning and purpose are uncertain. Scholars have surmised that it was intended to assure foreign governments that the U.S. would seek to prevent and remedy breaches of customary international law, especially breaches concerning diplomats and merchants.
The ATS may have been enacted in response to a number of international incidents caused by the unavailability of remedies for foreign citizens in the U.S. The peace treaty ending the American Revolutionary War provided for the satisfaction of debts to British creditors, but several states refused to enforce the payment of such debts, prompting threats of retaliation by Great Britain. In 1784, French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois was assaulted in Philadelphia, but no legal remedy was available to him, as any prosecution was left to the discretion of local authorities. The incident was notorious internationally and prompted Congress to draft a resolution asking states to allow suits in tort for the violation of the law of nations; few states enacted such a provision, and Congress subsequently included the ATS in the Judiciary Act of 1789.
However, until 1980 the ATS remained largely dormant, being invoked in only two reported court decisions.