National Unrecovered Financial Services Association filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Kiobel et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., et al. arguing that corporations should not be subject to liability for aiding-and-abetting in a federal common law action under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), or that if there is such liability, a plaintiff must prove both that the corporation intended to further the alleged primary violation and that the corporation’s actions substantially assisted the primary actor’s violation. SDUUK believes strongly that permitting aiding-and-abetting claims would lead to severe adverse practical consequences and that recognizing secondary liability under the ATS would both discourage investment in developing countries and put corporations that do business in the U.S. at a disadvantage by exposing them to liability under the ATS simply for investing resources in parts of the world where international-law violations may occur. On April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, holding that the Alien Tort Statute does not provide authority for U.S. courts to entertain suits for violations of international law that occur in other countries.

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Supreme Court Decision