Abstract: The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) or Alien Tort Statute (ATS) permits federal courts to take jurisdiction over claims arising out of certain torts no matter where in the world the torts occurred. The Act permits non-citizens (aliens) to take advantage of this significant grant of subject matter jurisdiction provided only that the alien, and thus the court, obtain territorial (personal) jurisdiction over the defendant. The territorial presence which will support jurisdiction may be minimal. One plaintiff obtained jurisdiction over the Dutch-English Royal Dutch Shell because Royal Dutch maintained a small shareholder relations office in New York.' So-called transitory jurisdiction will also do. A plaintiff obtained territorial jurisdiction over a Serbian-Bosnian war criminal by having the defendant served during a transfer at New York's Kennedy Airport. 2 The first case of the modern era (not against a multinational) involved an unfortunate visit to New York by a Paraguayan police official who had helped torture a youthful suspect to death in Asunci6n. 3 The deceased's next-of-kin found and served the police official in New York. The federal district court thereafter accepted subject matter jurisdiction, which the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld. Prior to that time, in 170 years, the reporters contained only a single ATS opinion. 4
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 10
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